LeBreton Flats 2.0 (RendezVous LeBreton) | Cancelled

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by HighwayStar

What a waste of all that good anticipation today

Does "library" count as green, residential or commercial space ?

As we all know, the problem with Lebreton flats is that there's not nearly enough open green public space (for all Canadians).

[rocketphish]

Four on NCC shortlist for LeBreton development

The Ottawa Citizen
Published on: February 18, 2015, Last Updated: February 18, 2015 4:11 PM EST

Four groups — Claridge Homes, Devcore Group, Focus Equities, and Rendez Vous Lebreton Group, which includes the Ottawa Senators — are on the National Capital Commission’s shortlist to develop the next phase of LeBreton Flats.

The groups were identified by chief executive Mark Kristmanson and other NCC officials on Wednesday afternoon.

The four were selected from five groups that had submitted conceptual proposals for the key, 9.3-hectare property along the Ottawa River. The next step is to develop detailed design and financial proposals.

While all of the groups would build residential and commercial space on the long-vacant site west of Parliament Hill, details released by the NCC revealed a broad range of additional ideas:

• Claridge Homes proposes indoor and outdoor concert facilities and “cultural enterprises” surrounded by green spaces.
• Devcore Group’s concept features “multiple cultural institutions developed around a grande allée.”
• Focus Equities proposes to house the headquarters of an unnamed international organization, accompanied by cultural venues.
• Rendez Vous LeBreton Group, which includes Ottawa’s NHL club, proposes the expected major event centre for sports and entertainment performances, complemented by green spaces.

The NCC originally said it would reveal the identities of the approved teams in March, after ratification by its board of directors.

The NCC has said the development should include a “signature attraction” of regional, national or international significance.

It said the fifth submission did not meet the mandatory requirements for proposals and so was not on the shortlist.

What wasn’t immediately clear was whether any of the submissions included a new main branch of the Ottawa Library, which has been discussed for the site.

— More to come.

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...ders-wednesday

[waterloowarrior]

Focus Equities is a Victoria developer... http://focusequities.com/

[kwoldtimer]

The proposals for multiple cultural institutions and an international headquarters puzzle me. Other than the Library in the first instance, I have no idea what is being contemplated and it's hard to imagine either the Fed or the City lining up to pour money into new cultural venues or an international HQ for Ottawa.

[Kitchissippi]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

Mid-2016 for announcement of successful proponent? What? That was supposed to be this October God I hate the NCC and their insistence of doing everything at a snail's pace...

Nine moths to prepare a detailed design and financing and then taking six months to evaluate and verify them is pretty standard. The Confederation Line contracting had a similar timeline: Shortlist revealed in Oct. 21, 2011, detailed design and financing from teams on July 2012, winning proposal recommended to council on Dec. 2012. It also took over a year from the shortlist announcement.

[waterloowarrior]

I was hoping we would get a list of who is on each team so far.. not just the name of the team/lead partner.

[acottawa]

We know there is a deal with someone in the "sports and entertainment performance" business, but I wonder if the developers have AIPs with the "international organizations," "indoor concert venues," "cultural venues" and "cultural enterprises" or if this is all aspirational (i.e. they could have proposed a spaceport and it would be the same thing).

[citydwlr]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

The proposals for multiple cultural institutions and an international headquarters puzzle me. Other than the Library in the first instance, I have no idea what is being contemplated and it's hard to imagine either the Fed or the City lining up to pour money into new cultural venues or an international HQ for Ottawa.

I'm wondering if the aforementioned Newseum would be considered a "cultural institution", or if such a place would hold offices for a Canadian HQ?

From Wikipedia:

The 643,000-square-foot (60,000 m²) Newseum includes a 90-foot (27 m) high atrium, seven levels of displays, 15 theaters, a dozen major galleries, many more smaller exhibits, two broadcast studios, and an expanded interactive newsroom. The structural engineer for this project was Leslie E. Robertson Associates.

The building features an oval, 500-seat "Forum" theater; approximately 145,500 square feet (14,000 m²) gross of housing facing Sixth and C streets; 75,000 square feet (7,000 m²) of office space for the staff of the Newseum and Freedom Forum; and more than 11,000 square feet (1,000 m²) of conference center space on two levels located directly above the Newseum Atrium. The building is also known for the largest and tallest hydraulic passenger elevators in the world, with a capacity of 18,000 pounds capable of carrying up to 72 passengers when fully loaded, and a travel distance of 100 feet that covers 7 floors. A curving glass memorial to slain journalists is located above the ground floor.

Sharing the building with the Newseum are The Source, a Wolfgang Puck Restaurant, and the Newseum Residences, a collection of 135 luxury apartment homes. The building's amenities include a rooftop terrace, which shares the Newseum's views of the National Mall, Washington Monument and the United States Capitol.

[Capital Shaun]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

NCC release:

http://www.ncc-ccn.gc.ca/property-ma...-proponents-to

"Each qualified proponent will receive a financial contribution of $75,000 to prepare a high-quality design proposal and financial plan to be submitted to the NCC in November 2015."

What? We're giving each developer $75,000?

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

Nine moths to prepare a detailed design and financing and then taking six months to evaluate and verify them is pretty standard. The Confederation Line contracting had a similar timeline: Shortlist revealed in Oct. 21, 2011, detailed design and financing from teams on July 2012, winning proposal recommended to council on Dec. 2012. It also took over a year from the shortlist announcement.

Confederation Line is a much more complicated project...

[waterloowarrior]

OK here is who we have so far.
* = Confirmed

Team A: Claridge Homes
-Claridge Homes *
-First Capital Realty
-Main and Main Developments
-Urban Strategies *

Team B: Devcore Group
-Devcore Group*
-Broccolini

Team C: Focus Equities
-Focus Equities*
-Pomerleau Construction

Team D: Rendez Vous LeBreton Group
-Senators Sports & Entertainment *
-Trinity Development Group

Team E: Disqualified
-Unknown

Other potential participants (from site visit list)... Many of the firms are multi-disciplinary (e.g. IBI has architects, planners, and engineers) but I just put them in one category.

Developers: Brigil, Brickland Timberlay, Mastercraft Starwood, Minto,Windmill.
Architects: mecanoo, Perkins + Will, architectsAlliance, GRC, HOK, IBI, Barry Padolsky, bbb, HDR, Moriyama and Teshima, NORR, CSW Landscape Architects
Planners: FoTenn, Paquette Planning, DCarr Community Solutions, CIMA, Parataxis Design and Development Corporation
Engineers, building consultants, real estate, project managers: AECOM, _bpa, Cleland Jarndine Engineering, GBA, Golder, Morrison Hershfield, Jones Lang LaSalle, WSP
Construction: RW Tomlinson, Ron Engineering and Construction, PCL
Other: NEWSEUM Inc.

[danishh]

have you confirmed trinity for the rendez vous group?
If trinity is in, you can bet minto and shenkman are in as well.


this falls in line with what i have heard - that this is basically landsdowne all over again, just with the sens instead of the cfl.

[rocketphish]

Four on NCC shortlist for LeBreton development

Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: February 18, 2015, Last Updated: February 18, 2015 8:08 PM EST

The National Capital Commission announced Wednesday it is inviting four development teams to propose plans for the future of LeBreton Flats.

But members of the public will have to wait nearly a year to learn very much about any of those plans.

The four teams selected — a fifth team was eliminated for not meeting mandatory criteria — will have until November to submit detailed project designs and financial proposals for a 9.3-hectare parcel of land in LeBreton Flats. A further 12.1 hectares could also be in play, depending on the proposal.

The NCC board hopes to announce the winning design in mid-2016, after the federal cabinet has signed off.

At Wednesday’s announcement, the NCC released few details about the four teams and their proposals. It named only team leaders, for example, not the full composition of the each team. It also provides only vague, one-sentence descriptions of each of the team’s proposals.


Here are the four shortlisted teams and the information released by the NCC about their proposals:


The team: RendezVous LeBreton Group. Though the NCC didn’t say so, the team includes Senators Sports & Entertainment and other partners, including Trinity Development Group. Senators Sports & Entertainment is owned by Eugene Melnyk, owner of the Ottawa Senators and the Canadian Tire Centre.

Trinity was founded by John Ruddy, one of five partners in the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, the consortium that is redeveloping Lansdowne Park. Trinity, which has developed more than 25 million square feet of retail space across Canada, is responsible for Lansdowne’s retail elements.

The proposal: The team wants to build a new downtown arena — or as the NCC put it, “a major event centre for sports and entertainment performances” — complemented by green spaces and residential and commercial developments.

The comment: The team released a statement saying the partners had “a shared vision and commitment to reinvigorating and reinstating LeBreton Flats as a preeminent meeting place and crossroads for the National Capital Region.”

*

The team: Claridge Homes and partners. Claridge, Ottawa’s largest land developer, is the builder of several condo apartment buildings on the eastern edge of LeBreton Flats.

The proposal: The NCC said the Claridge group proposes “indoor and outdoor concert facilities, cultural enterprises surrounded by green spaces, and residential and commercial developments.”

The comment: In a statement, Claridge said its team includes “an impressive list of internationally recognized designers, consultants and specialists. It said it is committed to establishing LeBreton as a unique destination that will be “internationally recognized and a source of pride for all Canadians.”

*

The team: Devcore Group and partners, including Montreal real estate developer Broccolini. Devcore, a Gatineau development company owned by Jean-Pierre Poulin, has focused mainly on low-rise and mid-rise residential projects to date.

Broccolini brings expertise in large projects, including the Export Development Canada building at 150 Slater St., the largest office construction project in downtown Ottawa in the past 25 years.

The proposal: Devcore proposes a concept with “multiple cultural institutions developed around a grande allée. green spaces and residential and commercial developments.”

The comment: The team wasn’t talking Wednesday.

*

The team: Focus Equities leads the team. The Victoria-based firm, founded 35 years ago by Canadian entrepreneur Ken Mariash, is both a developer of large complex projects and an active financial investor. One of its current projects is Bayview Place, an eight-hectare tract of land in Victoria West that the company says “is destined to become a world class waterfront community.”

One of its partners is believed to be Pomerleau Construction, the largest construction firm in Quebec. It was the general contractor for $136 million in work at Lansdowne Park, including rebuilding the stadium and constructing the underground parking garage.

The proposal: The team proposes to house the headquarters of “an international organization,” the NCC said, “accompanied by cultural venues, green spaces and residential and commercial developments.”

The comment: None Wednesday.



NCC chief executive Mark Kristmanson said the agency has asked the teams “not to communicate” further details of their proposals to the public. “We’ll have the public debate about the merits of the proposals after (the proponents) have had a chance to develop them,” he said.

As well, the NCC will not release the Request for Proposals outlining the NCC’s expectations for the LeBreton redevelopment, or the criteria that will be used to pick the winner, until the competition is complete.

Despite that, Kristmanson called the process “very open” and typical of similar Request for Proposals processes that NCC has done in the past. “This is, of course, a larger one. The stakes are higher,” he said.

“I think the proponents need to be given the space and time to develop their proposals,” Kristmanson said, noting that all four proposals will be publicly displayed in early 2016, something he described as a “very open and exceptional step.”

The public will be asked for feedback, which will be considered by the five-member committee that will recommend the winning design.

The NCC explicitly wants the new development to include an attraction of regional, national or international significance to counterbalance the Canadian War Museum.

So far, Kristmanson said, “we’re encouraged by the proposals,” adding that they included “some very imaginative ideas” for the use of the site. “But we’ll have to see how far they can take them through the development period.”

Though there was speculation that several teams were proposing a new Ottawa central library, Kristmanson said the NCC had agreed to leave that to the City of Ottawa to run as s separate procurement process.

A spokesman for the city said Wednesday it has “not been approached about being part of any bid.”

Video

dbutler@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...ders-wednesday

[waterloowarrior]

Originally Posted by danishh

have you confirmed trinity for the rendez vous group?
If trinity is in, you can bet minto and shenkman are in as well.


this falls in line with what i have heard - that this is basically landsdowne all over again, just with the sens instead of the cfl.

The list is based on the two Ottawa Citizen articles... besides the NCC's list of the four team names, the only confirmations are from Senators, and from George Dark from Urban Strategies who retweeted several posts about Claridge's bid.

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...ponents-emerge
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...ders-wednesday

[rocketphish]

LeBreton contenders announced in traditional NCC style

Joanne Chianello, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: February 18, 2015, Last Updated: February 18, 2015 8:02 PM EST

If you were waiting with bated breath for the shortlist of bidders for LeBreton Flats, you can now exhale in a long, slow, disappointed sigh.

It’s not that the shortlisted projects are necessarily lacklustre — although they might turn out to be — it’s that they are so vague as to be almost useless. There are certainly no artists’ renderings, or even full partner lists of the shortlisted teams. Why did the National Capital Commission bother to release the shortlist at all?

Of the four bids on the list, only two make any immediate sense.

The first is the Ottawa Senators’ proposal to build a new arena, although the word “Senators” never appears in any NCC documents. Instead, the proponent is known only as RendezVous LeBreton Group, and is widely believed to include Trinity Developments as partner. In addition to a sports and entertainment centre, the Senators’ bid promises to include green space, and residential and commercial development.

No matter what you think about the suitability of putting an NHL arena on federally owned land — and it’s not a slam-dunk that that’s appropriate — the Senators’ plan appears doable. We actually have a professional hockey team, although perhaps not the richest in the league, and there’s a plan to build real estate to pay for some of that arena.

Second place for bid-most-based-in-reality is the Claridge Homes proposal for a major programmed park with indoor and outdoor concert facilities and other “cultural enterprises.” This proposal appears to be the “greenest” of the shortlisted projects — think Central Park in New York, or Millennial Park in Chicago. Like all the bids, Claridge is proposing residential and commercial development to help pay for the public spaces.

There are some questions about the Claridge vision, such as whether this city can support more concert space. And what kind of “cultural enterprises” is the company talking about? No one can say (more on that in a minute). And Claridge will be fighting its own reputation: its condo development on the first phase of LeBreton is not altogether well-loved in this city, to put it mildly. Still, Claridge actually has money to see its project through, which is hardly a minor point. And the company has retained Toronto landscape architect George Dark, a well-respected consultant who’s very familiar with Ottawa as he’s been hired by the city on numerous occasions.

As for the last two proposals, well they might be just about anything. All we know about a bid led by Devcore Group is that the Gatineau developer is proposing to build “multiple cultural institutions” around “a grande allée.” And the bid from Focus Equities is bizarre: it’s proposing to “house the headquarters of an international organization,” along with building some cultural venues.

What international organization? You probably should have one more-or-less signed up before you put in a bid promising to house its headquarters in your new real estate development.

But maybe Focus Equities — a Victoria commercial and industrial developer — has an international organization in mind. We don’t know because we aren’t allowed to ask anyone at the company.

In its Request for Qualifications, the NCC stipulates that there are to be no “public announcements, comments or media releases” about the bids at during the RFQ, or the upcoming Request for Proposals stage, which the four shortlisted proponents are now entering. Speaking publicly about details of the bids “is grounds for disqualification, at the sole discretion of the NCC.”

But everyone’s confused about whether the NCC really means it. A request for clarification from NCC officials remained unanswered by deadline.

This secrecy demand is nonsense. Sure, there are details that proponents will want to hold back for competition’s sake, but that’s their call — not the NCC’s. More importantly, most of these bids call for the inclusion of cultural institutions, which should have a public consultation component to their mandates. So how can a proponent approach a cultural group but keep it all secret?

Take the central library as an example. A number of proposals are thought to have earmarked a location for a library. But the bidder can only include a main branch in its plans if it comes to an agreement with the city. The city is planning a major public consultation on a new library. So how can the proponent(s) participate in the city’s library process if all details of its bid are supposed to be kept secret?

It’s absurd.

And for good measure, the NCC has added an extra dab of its trademark obfuscation and confusion to the process. The RFP will not be made public, which makes no sense. If the rules are the same for all the bidders, why can’t we see what those rules are? And it turns out that the public won’t get to know what the scoring criteria are until after the final bids are in. If the NCC is going to release the criteria, as it surely must, then why not sooner rather than later?

We’re off to a troubling start on the redevelopment of LeBreton Flats. Secrecy, vagueness, confusion. If the NCC was actually trying to make people indifferent to the possibilities for one of the most significant sites in the core of our capital, then mission accomplished.

jchianello@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/jchianello

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...onal-ncc-style

[danishh]

ok thanks. I guess we'll find out eventually... or not. As chianello says, the secrecy rules seem kind of ridiculous. Everyone should bombard poilievre with complaints about it.

[EdFromOttawa]

Good article by Chianello. Everyone here should be emailing the hell out of the NCC media manager on all those questions...

The Syrian Government does a better job of transparency than the NCC..

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

OK here is who we have so far.
* = Confirmed

Team A: Claridge Homes
-Claridge Homes *
-First Capital Realty
-Main and Main Developments
-Urban Strategies *

Team B: Devcore Group
-Devcore Group*
-Broccolini

Team C: Focus Equities
-Focus Equities*
-Pomerleau Construction

Team D: Rendez Vous LeBreton Group
-Senators Sports & Entertainment *
-Trinity Development Group

Team E: Disqualified
-Unknown

Other potential participants (from site visit list)... Many of the firms are multi-disciplinary (e.g. IBI has architects, planners, and engineers) but I just put them in one category.

Developers: Brigil, Brickland Timberlay, Mastercraft Starwood, Minto,Windmill.
Architects: mecanoo, Perkins + Will, architectsAlliance, GRC, HOK, IBI, Barry Padolsky, bbb, HDR, Moriyama and Teshima, NORR, CSW Landscape Architects
Planners: FoTenn, Paquette Planning, DCarr Community Solutions, CIMA, Parataxis Design and Development Corporation
Engineers, building consultants, real estate, project managers: AECOM, _bpa, Cleland Jarndine Engineering, GBA, Golder, Morrison Hershfield, Jones Lang LaSalle, WSP
Construction: RW Tomlinson, Ron Engineering and Construction, PCL
Other: NEWSEUM Inc.

Thanks for the breakdown. Definitely simplifies the random information we've been receiving.

Here's a quote I've seen a few times over the past couple years;

Broccolini brings expertise in large projects, including the Export Development Canada building at 150 Slater St., the largest office construction project in downtown Ottawa in the past 25 years.

Will anyone ever realize that this is now outdated? The James Flaherty Building (90 Elgin) has now taken that title.

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by Capital Shaun

"Each qualified proponent will receive a financial contribution of $75,000 to prepare a high-quality design proposal and financial plan to be submitted to the NCC in November 2015."

What? We're giving each developer $75,000?

That's the norm for this type of stuff, and won't come close to covering the costs these companies incur preparing a proposal. The Confederation Line bidders got far more than that.

[Buggys]

the NCC will not release the Request for Proposals outlining the NCC’s expectations for the LeBreton redevelopment, or the criteria that will be used to pick the winner, until the competition is complete.


This should be public information, as anyone was allowed to submit bids.