The development is still years away from shovels in the ground, but the Ottawa Senators reached an agreement in principle to acquire land for a new arena and district.
Ottawa Senators logoIt’s not shovels in the ground, but there’s renewed progress for a downtown arena at LeBreton Flats for the Ottawa Senators.
Ottawa Senators president and CEO Cyril Leeder and Tobi Nussbaum, CEO of the National Capital Commission (NCC), made the announcement Friday afternoon at Canadian Tire Centre. This is the latest development in a saga that has spanned several years in search of an arena deal at LeBreton Flats, even if there's still more to figure out.
Leeder said the Senators had originally been in talks with the NCC, a federal Crown corporation, regarding a long-term lease, but they have now “reached an agreement in principle” for the sale of the land at “fair market value.”
The vision is to construct a major events center that will “catalyze the LeBreton Flats development,” said Nussbaum. He added the NCC is committed to “building world-class green spaces” and a mixed-use neighborhood to complement the new arena.
Much of LeBreton Flats is a vacant plot of land that sits just west of downtown Ottawa and alongside the Ottawa River with bridge access to Gatineau, Que. It's also near the convergence of two light rail lines, which Leeder is optimistic will play a key role in bringing 20,000 fans to and from the arena.
In 2022, the NCC and the Ottawa Senators-led Capital Sports Development Inc. entered a “memorandum of understanding” that acted as a touchstone for future negotiations. But this deal is by far the biggest advance in the project thus far. New Senators owner Michael Andlauer has expressed his desire for a downtown arena and has shown he can bring a steady hand to the organization in pursuing an agreement.
And according to Leeder, it’s the desire from all parties to get an arena built.
“There’s been a spirit of co-operation all the way through the process,” Leeder said.
That said, LeBreton Flats is also located on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Nation.
In 2016, CBC reported that First Nations groups were seeking "significant benefit" from the redevelopment of LeBreton. In 2023, Ian Mendes of The Athletic reported the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation was preparing legal action against the Canadian governement for its lack of communication with First Nation groups.
While this was not mentioned in the press conference, the news release said negotiations are ongoing between the NCC and the Algonquin Nation to ensure it secures benefits for the short and long term and that it's a "true partner in what promises to be a transformational opportunity for Canada’s capital."
According to Leeder, the two most important components of the arena deal were land ownership and parcel size.
Nussbaum says the NCC hasn't set a price, but the parcel of land to be purchased is larger than initial conversations between the Senators and the NCC, jumping from six acres to about 10.
Leeder said that’s to accommodate the size of a modern downtown sports arena and a surrounding mixed-use district. It would also allow for more parking spaces, the need for which may be exacerbated by Ottawa’s light rail transit system, which even a public inquiry in 2022 said was unreliable.
That being said, no design work has been finalized, nor is there a price tag for the new arena. Leeder said this deal will allow for design work to get underway, in addition to all the environmental, geological and transportation studies that need to be done before construction can begin. But Leeder said there's no expectation to need funding from taxpayers to construct the rink.
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