Ottawa council OK's Lansdowne Park plan

A plan to build shops and condos, renovate the stadium and expand the greenspace at Lansdowne Park has been approved by Ottawa city council with some conditions.

Council voted 15-9 Monday night in favour of the Lansdowne Partnership Plan from the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group.

The first phase of the public-private project would cost $250 million and include shops and an underground parkade on the 16-hectare property in the Glebe. More green space would be added and Frank Clair Stadium would be renovated for a potential Canadian Football League team.

Condos, townhouses and offices would be part of a later phase.

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Council's approval is conditional on:

• Completion of a final review of financial projections, including an analysis by the office of the auditor general.
• Completion of transportation studies and plans to determine whether traffic and parking can be reasonably accommodated.
• Establishment of a strategic design review and advisory panel, which would develop a master site plan. 
• Execution of an independent third-party peer review of the two conflicting studies from Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group and the Bank Street BIA to determine whether the commercial plan is viable and how it will affect existing Bank Street retail business community.
• Making a request for expressions of interest for the construction and operation of a trade and consumer show facility in Ottawa.
• Starting a competition for the design of the "front yard," including the Ottawa Farmers’ Market, Horticultural Building and the Aberdeen Pavilion. It would include a detailed public consultation process with the National Capital Commission and Parks Canada.
• Assistance to the Central Canada Exhibition Association in completing the business and logistical plans necessary for a move to a new location on Albion Road after the exhibition in 2010.

The conditional approval requires staff to conduct a number of studies on issues such as transportation and the effect on local businesses. Staff would also help trade shows and the Central Canada Exhibition Association, which would lose their Lansdowne Park home as a result of the redevelopment.

'Strong endorsement'

Roger Greenberg, one of the developers behind the proposal, told the CBC's Ottawa Morning host Kathleen Petty on Tuesday he was pleased with council's decision.

"I think a 15-9 vote was a very strong endorsement of the plan," Greenberg said.

"And when we come back before council in June, it'll be another step along the ladder to having the jewel on the canal being reopened."

But Coun. Clive Doucet, who represents the ward where Lansdowne Park is located and has long opposed the Lansdowne Partnership Plan, wasn't admitting defeat.

"If necessary, Dalton McGuinty [could] step in … and say 'You know what? You're not doing this to my city.'

And we will have a new council in 2010 which will understand that people come first, not very big corporate interests."

Final vote in June 2010

Staff are scheduled to report back to council in June 2010 following negotiations with the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group. At that point, council will hold a final vote on whether to sign the agreement.

Monday's vote followed decisions on more than a dozen amendments to the deal proposed by various city councillors.

Two changes that passed would:

• Ensure the city gets paid back at the same rate as the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment group once the redeveloped site becomes profitable. Under the original proposed deal, the developer would have been paid first.
• Require an expert panel to help design the site and its architecture, as well as oversee a design competition for the public spaces.

Coun. Peter Hume brought forward the motion to create an expert panel, which would plan the retail space proposed for the area between the Aberdeen Pavilion and Bank Street. Hume said the panel would be led by urban designer George Dark.

It is a compromise that could appease critics of the sole-source Lansdowne Partnership Plan by improving the overall proposal, Hume said.

"The thrust is to change the channel, back from a development proposal to the design of an important public space."

Coun. Marianne Wilkinson brought forward the amendment to alter the deal's repayment scheme. The city would contribute $129 million to the plan.

"I looked at the payouts, which they call 'the waterfall,' " Wilkinson told the CBC's Ottawa Morning host Kathleen Petty before presenting the motion. "The developers get a per cent return on their cash infusion and over a period of time [they get] that paid off before the city gets any return.

"I've just said, 'If we're partners, we should be equally getting it.'"