News of a deal – or lack thereof – between the Ottawa Senators and the National Capital Commission to build a new arena at LeBreton Flats is expected by the end of this week and local business leaders are eager to see which way the decision will go.
Sept. 20 is the deadline to firm up details for an agreement between the NHL hockey club and the NCC. Earlier this month, the hockey club’s president and CEO Cyril Leeder said that talks were intensifying and he was hopeful that a deal would come through.
“We’re still talking with the NCC,” Leeder told OBJ, following the Senators’ season launch event at the Canadian Tire Centre Sept. 4. “We’re still trying to find some common ground … It’s our expectation that (by Sept. 20), we’ll know whether we’ll be able to come to terms with the NCC on the future of an arena on LeBreton Flats. That’s what the agreement says at this point. That’s what we’ve been working towards, is trying to finalize terms that would work for them and for us.”
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Optimism in the local business community is high that the two parties can get a deal done.
Architect Andrew Reeves, founder of Linebox Studios, said Ottawa is currently at a critical moment and a project like this is vital for the city.
“I really believe this is fundamental to the success of the city,” he told OBJ Tuesday. “This one little building, in my mind, will help create momentum for a city that right now seems to not have a lot of momentum.”
In cities such as Calgary, where a new arena is currently in the works, Reeves said more movement is happening in the surrounding area as the project picks up steam.
Large projects like arenas can act as anchors, or attractive destinations that improve walkability and open the area up to surrounding neighbourhoods within walking distance. Reeves said proximity to other assets can make going to a game, concert or conference into a full-day event, meaning the night doesn’t have to end when you leave the building.
“You just cannot create that energy in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere,” he said. “I can’t name one interesting city in the entire world that doesn’t have an arena downtown. Not one.”
For Reeves, an arena could be the jumpstart the downtown needs, not only for the team and for tourism, but for drawing more commercial and residential developers to a troubled area of the city.
“It creates confidence in a city,” he said. “If we can get things going, I’ve been talking to developers that are wanting to build a nice hotel and waiting to do things – they’re just waiting for a trigger. This is a great opportunity to build up.”
Shawn Hamilton, a senior real estate executive and principal at Proveras Commercial Realty, said the announcement of a new arena would be good news for the business community in the midst of a tumultuous few weeks downtown, including the return to the office of many federal civil servants.
“I think it will be a beacon of optimism, something that we can sort of all rally around,” he said. “It’s something that represents an investment in our city. It represents a commitment by the Senators. This is creating a sense of place and community and an economic anchor.”
Darren Fleming, CEO of commercial real estate company Real Strategy, told OBJ Tuesday that he’s optimistic a deal would reinvigorate Ottawa’s central core.
“It seems like we’re at an inflection point where people are starting to come back to the city downtown,” he said. “This will be a major attraction for so many things other than hockey. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for them to get this deal done. We can’t wait another 20 years. This is the right thing to do. I’ll be first in line to buy my season tickets when they make that announcement.”
Failure to reach agreement could garner negative reactions
The way Hamilton sees it, there are two possible options if a deal is not announced outright this week.
One, the NCC and the Senators could agree on a further extension of the memorandum of understanding, giving themselves more time to negotiate and reach an agreement. This option would be annoying, according to Hamilton, but it would also indicate a thoughtfulness that he says is necessary for the success of a project like this.
“The complexity is really difficult to quantify, especially because of the financial commitment,” he said. “Though it would be a bit of a letdown, ultimately it would mean that there’s interest, that people are still at the table. I’d rather everyone get it right and take the time they need.”
The second option is that the two parties decide a deal can’t be reached and walk away from the table.
Reeves said the deal isn’t done until “pen is put to paper.” If the Senators and NCC fail to come to an agreement securing an arena for the downtown core, he said the decision would rattle his view of the city.
“I really do see this as a critical moment,” he said. “If this doesn’t happen, personally, I’ll start losing confidence in the city. How are we going to shape our city for the long term, other than more condo buildings everywhere and this generic stuff?”
For Fleming, the failure to reach a deal could be a blow to any of the goodwill accumulated by the NCC, as well as the Senators.
“I think leadership have made it pretty clear that they want to make a deal happen,” he said. “(Senators owner) Michael Andlauer has made it pretty clear that he wanted to move the team downtown. If they can’t get this done, I think the NCC is going to need to do some real navel-gazing as to what it takes to get a deal done.”
If a deal does get done, Fleming said he’d like to see a bit more hustle on the NCC’s part to get the project off the ground as quickly as possible.
“The project has kind of lost a little bit of momentum,” he said. “Maybe it’s the summertime or because it’s dragged on and on. I don’t think the NCC has the sense of urgency that the rest of us have with respect to the project right now.”
Hamilton said that if the deal falls apart, the Senators at least have something to fall back on. Leeder told OBJ earlier this month that the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata is still in working order and could be renovated to meet the team’s needs if necessary.
Still, Hamilton said frustrations over the long wait could boil over if no deal is reached and people will likely be looking for someone to blame.
“We need to resist the urge to finger-point to find who’s at fault,” he said. “There will likely be no one at fault. Everyone is just doing the best they can, representing their own sides. We need to resist the urge and pivot immediately. The Senators are not at risk of falling apart and it allows us to find another solution for the downtown environment that would work.”
He added, “Real estate deals are like walking through melting snow. The more the snow melts, the more you find opportunities. Real estate deals don’t grow on trees, but one just needs to uncover itself.”
