Building LeBreton Flats - Master Planning

[phil235]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

The Byward Market will be an attraction for residents across the city only if it is easy to get there. In the past, most people had to drive there. Our long-term transit plans may help for some people, but that is several years away. Phase 1 is too short. I can tell you that the current transit plan even after Phase 3 will not draw me to the Byward Market. It will still be too difficult to get there.

I think that you may be overstating these issues for a couple of reasons.

First, I'm not sure that its even the majority of visitors to the Market who drive now. While short, the first phase of the LRT will certainly increase the transit share (even without the associated intensification), as it puts thousands of people within an easy train ride of the front door of the Market.

Second, the difficulty of driving to the Market is greatly exaggerated. I find driving Merivale on a Saturday a far more daunting prospect than driving down Colonel By or King Edward to the Market. What people are averse to is paying for parking. That mentality will change as more people finally accept that Ottawa is actually a big city.

[J.OT13]

Watson wants an arena at LeBreton Flats, but doesn't want Melnyk involved. Big fan of Ruddy though.

Watson calls for 'grander' vision for LeBreton Flats

David Sali, OBJ
Jun 13, 2019 4:24pm EDT


Mayor says he doesn't expect Sens owner Eugene Melnyk to be part of renewed development process

Mayor Jim Watson renewed his call for a “grander, bigger” vision for LeBreton Flats this week, telling a gathering of business leaders at Lansdowne Park that the next proposal to redevelop the prime parcel of land west of downtown must leave room for an NHL arena and should be based on a single, cohesive long-term plan.

“We can’t do it piecemeal,” Watson told broadcaster Mark Sutcliffe during a Q&A session at the City-Building Summit hosted by OBJ and the Ottawa Board of Trade on Wednesday.

“It has to be done on a grander, bigger scale than just a little parcel here or there, because there are a lot of common elements in the proposal that are going to need to get funded. That makes the most sense.”

Noting that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is “very committed” to putting his weight behind a downtown stadium for the Senators, the mayor said moving the team to LeBreton Flats would accelerate momentum for a light-rail transit link between Ottawa and Gatineau and breathe new life into the city’s central business district.

“This will take away the need for another (interprovincial) bridge if we can get people on transit across the river,” Watson said.

Earlier in the day, new National Capital Commission boss Tobi Nussbaum told the crowd at the Horticulture Building “there is nothing piecemeal” about the agency’s redevelopment strategy for the NCC-owned land. A phased-in approach makes sense, he said, because the NCC can’t rely on a “single actor” to spearhead such a massive project.

The NCC’s recent attempt to revitalize the long-vacant lands fell apart earlier this year when preferred proponent RendezVous LeBreton – a consortium led by Senators owner Eugene Melnyk and Trinity Development Group’s John Ruddy – failed to come to terms on the massive project, which included visions of condo towers and a new downtown arena for the Sens.

Ruddy and Melnyk’s partnership dissolved into litigation at the end of 2018 over unresolved issues concerning Trinity’s nearby residential development at 900 Albert St.

Watson told Sutcliffe he anticipates Ruddy will be part of the next tendering process but expects the Sens owner to stay on the sidelines.

“I don’t think Eugene Melnyk will put in a bid, but who knows?” he said, adding the NCC must ensure the winning proponents in the new LeBreton process have “the financial capacity” to build world-class amenities at the site.

Reiterating his disbelief at Melnyk’s suggestion during the NHL 100 Classic festivities in 2017 that he might consider relocating the team if the market conditions in Ottawa didn’t improve, Watson took another dig at the Sens owner on Wednesday.

“I have great confidence in John Ruddy, not so much in Eugene,” Watson said.

In a wide-ranging half-hour discussion, the mayor also touted the announcement that Ottawa will officially hit the one-million population mark on Friday, saying “it’s an opportunity for us to boast and brag a little bit” over reaching the seven-figure landmark.

He also joked he already knew who the city’s one-millionth resident will be.

“Erik Karlsson, I hope,” he deadpanned.

Watson conceded the city is facing its share of growing pains as it hits the magic million mark.

Traffic headaches

Traffic congestion has become a headache for everyone, the mayor admitted. He said the city scheduled major road construction projects on downtown arteries such as Elgin Street and Bronson Avenue to happen this year in the belief that the Confederation LRT line would already be up and running.

Instead, the trains are more than a year late and are not expected to start rolling until the end of August.

“We have a lot of projects on the go that normally would not have to compete with the construction of LRT,” Watson said.

Noting that the 12.5-kilometre Confederation Line is just the first step in a multi-phased process that’s expected to see light rail eventually extended to Kanata, the airport, Orleans and perhaps across the river to Gatineau, the mayor said he believes the short-term construction grief Ottawans are now facing will be worth it in the long run.

“My vision of Ottawa is one where we don’t have constant traffic jams … and we do that by investing heavily in infrastructure for transit,” he said. “Really, the biggest impact we can have in making our city more livable for the next two, three, four generations is to get the transit system right.”

https://obj.ca/article/watson-calls-...lebreton-flats

[acottawa]

Is he putting money in? Has he convinced the feds to put money in?

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Is he putting money in? Has he convinced the feds to put money in?

It's just Watson voicing his opinion. As long as Melnyk owns the team, an arena will bit be built. If Melnyk sells, then I could see Watson stepping in with an offer to help build an arena.

[kwoldtimer]

Tantalizing hint that he may not support another bridge?

[rocketphish]

New LeBreton Flats consultations take 'from the ground up' approach

Jacob Hoytema, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: June 18, 2019

With the previous failed LeBreton Flats development plan in the past, the National Capital Commission moved forward on Tuesday night with in-person community consultations for a new master plan.

The consultations illustrate a process that is more open-ended than the previous one, but some residents are still holding their breath to see if the development will match their wishes.

The NCC started a new plan for developing the flats after the collapse of talks with RendezVous LeBreton, a consortium that had included Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk. That group fell apart last fall when conflicts arose between Melnyk and Trinity Development Group chairman John Ruddy through a series of highly-publicized lawsuits.

The previous NCC-led process had chosen RendezVous LeBreton from among four competing proposals, all of which would have locked in development plans for the flats as a whole.

This new round of consultation appears to be more open-ended. Now that the area has been divided into several sections that will be developed in stages, the NCC is seeking input from residents before meeting with stakeholders and seeing development proposals.

Tuesday night’s consultation at the War Museum allowed attendees to get up to speed and leave their feedback on a casual, drop-in basis. In the museum’s main hall, with light refreshments and bossa nova music, were several displays on the history of LeBreton Flats and inspiration from similar urban developments in cities around the world.

The real engine of feedback for participants was in the adjacent Barney Danson Theatre. On a series of square pillars, attendees could write suggestions for various themes on sticky-notes, which other participants could vote on with blue or red stickers to show approval or disapproval, respectively.

Several notes were covered in blue stickers, giving an idea of what notions participants found the most appealing: “Flats for neighbourhood first — city second — tourists third,” said one note on the theme of LeBreton’s role as a capital district. “Madam (sic) Tussaud’s Wax Museum No!” said another.

Others suggested public washrooms and affordable housing.

One of the most heavily approved sticky notes simply said: “Build literally anything by 2060.”

“I think that we have to show that we’ve got a solid approach this time,” said Katie Paris, who directs the NCC’s Building LeBreton project. “We need to demonstrate that this approach has been successful elsewhere, where you put in place a strong master plan with the guiding principles and basically put the policies in place that are going to shape this community over time.

“Instead of waiting for an enormous vision, and one proponent who promises to do the whole thing, we get started. And that means a phasing strategy.”

Clarissa Brocklehurst, who has lived just south of LeBreton Flats for more than two decades, said the vacant area has left a gap in the community. She said she wants community infrastructure like grocery stores to link it to neighbourhoods like hers that don’t have a real connection to the Flats, despite living right next to it.

“It has a direct impact on us. This is our neighbourhood,” Brocklehurst said. “It used to be wonderful to live on the edge of LeBreton Flats because you could go cross-country skiing on it. It was this huge anomaly.”

Wellington West BIA executive director Dennis VanStaalduinen said the eventual LeBreton development will make up an important link to other communities like his.

“There’s a big void in the city between us and the downtown core, and we’re very interested in what happens and concerned to make sure whatever fills that void isn’t going to cut us off even more from the city in the future,” he said.

An online consultation will be open on the NCC website until July 2.

The NCC said it will take the results of this round of consultation back with more consultations on further aspects of the plan in November.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...nd-up-approach

[Kitchissippi]

It's kind of ridiculous that a large project like this only has a one day live consultation event. The NCC has so many empty properties, why can't they set something up that's open for a few days or even weeks? They should do like Zibi and set up some shipping containers in the middle of that desolate field or along the Aqueduct across from Pimisi Station.

[lrt's friend]

“Build literally anything by 2060.” Let's make this 2064 and we can celebrate the centennial of the demolition.

“Flats for neighbourhood first — city second — tourists third,” said one note on the theme of LeBreton’s role as a capital district. “Madam (sic) Tussaud’s Wax Museum No!” said another.

Is this the same person who declared a Botanical Garden to be like Disneyland? Nobody proposed Tussaud's Wax Museum but this suggests that any proposal that supports the tourist industry will be like that. Hey, let's build subsidized row houses and a grocery store. Project done! Or even better, more Claridge high end condos and a grocery store. Ugly as sin but at least the neighbourhood would be quiet without unwanted hooligan tourists and Orleans residents.

[zzptichka]

Open house last night was really well organized.
Maybe if there is another one in the fall we should set up a SSP meetup there. There was coffee and cookies.

[HighwayStar]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

“Build literally anything by 2060.” Let's make this 2064 and we can celebrate the centennial of the demolition.

That's an interesting thought, but I hear through the grapevine that the rebuild/restoration of 24 Sussex will bubble to the top of the NCC's agenda in 2063, so I doubt they will be able to focus on LeBreton during that timeframe.

[danishh]

I really enjoyed the open house and wrote a bunch of those sticky notes. My focus was connections to the surrounding communities and i did advocate for the arena.

I had a good discussion with Katie Paris and advocated including the NCC Albert/Slater parcel as well as Bronson Park (Bronson and Queen) into the master plan for Lebreton. Even if they are not immediately developed, it makes little sense not to include adjoining NCC lands in the Master plan.

[FutureWickedCity]

So back to square one, with a bunch of vague ideas and no money or consensus to make any of them happen. What is Jim Watson's or the NCC's vendetta against Devcore, who had the will and the money to make something happen?

[danishh]

Originally Posted by FutureWickedCity

So back to square one, with a bunch of vague ideas and no money or consensus to make any of them happen. What is Jim Watson's or the NCC's vendetta against Devcore, who had the will and the money to make something happen?

without having read the actual solicitation, i suspect the devcore bid would have been expired and a new solicitation would have been required. Going sole-source would have also presented problems as other groups (Melnyk, Ruddy, others) could certainly provide compliant bids.

Going to the second bidder, this long after the original solicitation, isnt really an option in any public procurement.

It also has absolutely nothing to do with the Mayor of the City of Ottawa.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by FutureWickedCity

So back to square one, with a bunch of vague ideas and no money or consensus to make any of them happen. What is Jim Watson's or the NCC's vendetta against Devcore, who had the will and the money to make something happen?

Devcore was even more of a farce then the Melnyk nonsense. There is no evidence they had money to make anything happen.

[OTSkyline]

Wasn't DEVCOR apparently backed by pretty wealthy backers like Desmarais and Laliberte (Cirque du Soleil)?

Laliberte did build the PY1 Pyramid in Montreal which is hosting a bunch of events this summer (more than Melnyk can claim). Although of course these types of events and ideas are way too fun or cool for Ottawa to entertain (not saying we should build a Pyramid at Lebreton but I feel like anything lively of this sort would be quickly shot down by residents in Ottawa).

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

Wasn't DEVCOR apparently backed by pretty wealthy backers like Desmarais and Laliberte (Cirque du Soleil)?

Laliberte did build the PY1 Pyramid in Montreal which is hosting a bunch of events this summer (more than Melnyk can claim). Although of course these types of events and ideas are way too fun or cool for Ottawa to entertain (not saying we should build a Pyramid at Lebreton but I feel like anything lively of this sort would be quickly shot down by residents in Ottawa).

I don’t think “backed” is the right word. They were last minute additions to the consortium and didn’t commit to anything to the development. Their interest seemed to buying the hockey team, presumably at a lowball price.

I think if they had committed actual money, either as investors or philanthropists (say funding some of the amenities) then it would have been a more credible proposal.

[danishh]

Staff sent a report to the NCC Board of Directors today

http://ncc-website-2.s3.amazonaws.co...20190620112312

doesnt appear to include anything new. Probably procedural.

[J.OT13]

I hope the new masterplan includes a few of RVL's ideas such as covering the Confederation Line, the street grid and Preston extension as well as the retail lined aqueduct. Those are some of the ideas that gave them an edge over DCDLS. Those are the ideas we should run with in order to integrate the area with the surrounding community and itself as well as making it more accessible. I don't want to see chain-link fences and overhead wires. The Flats we're flattened in the 60s in order to remove the rail lines. Lets not re-build the Flats 60 years later with yet another rail line dividing the neighborhood.

[Jayday23]

Is anyone else jealous of what morguard is building at the old bonnie doon shopping centre in YEG? This space less than half the size of lebreton and they already have exceeded the density and the architectural quality of the rendezvous bid.

[J.OT13]

Maybe we'll see something similar for the St-Laurent Shopping Centre? Both are owned by the same developer. Both lost Sears. Both are in cities of a million heavily dependent on government. Both are in similar locations (mid-century suburban/inner-urban area, close to downtown). Both are served by rail. On that last point, we have an edge since ours is a subway not a surface tram.