The cost of building Lansdowne: Can the city support two sports and entertainment districts?

Ottawa is growing at a faster rate than ever. By 2046 it’s projected over 1.4 million people will call the Capital home. 

To keep up with this max influx in population, there are many key infrastructure projects in the works: light rail transit, the new central library, road realignments, Main Street beautification projects, a new Sens arena at LeBreton Flats, a revitalized — again — Lansdowne Park, the list goes on. 

Each one comes with a steep price tag and it’s fair to say Ottawa is in a financial crisis. In September Mayor Mark Sutcliffe admitted the city has a structural deficit that won't go away anytime soon. If staff projections are correct, it will climb to $8.9 billion in the next 30 years. There is also the rising cost of public transit with OC Transpo facing a $120 million hole. 

To help combat this the mayor has been begging the province and federal governments to step up their financial support for Canada’s Capital city of a million people. To date, it has mainly fallen on deaf ears with the upper levels of government and has created a blame game for who is responsible for such a financial mess. 

A draft budget will be tabled to council on Nov. 13. A 2.9 per cent property tax increase is expected – a number which many councillors say is too little. Ottawa’s property taxes are higher than most Canadian cities – but lower than most cities in Ontario. Vancouver has the lowest property taxes in Canada. In a ranking system of 24 cities access the country, Ottawa ranks 13th; Toronto ranks sixth; and Edmonton 10th. The estimated yearly cost of property taxes for a $1 million home in Ottawa is $11,956 compared to Sault Ste. Marie – which ranked highest on the list – at $17,891.

Despite the tight budgets, Ottawa is looking to build or revitalize two new sports and entertainment districts: A new arena for the Ottawa Senators at LeBreton Flats and a new and partially updated home for the Ottawa Red Blacks, Women’s PWHL Hockey Team, and the Ottawa 67s at Lansdowne Park. 

The question now is whether Ottawa is big enough to handle both within a roughly 5.5-kilometre radius of one another. Proponents against Lansdowne say this should easily be studied before any shovels are put in the ground. 

The answer is tricky and needs a lot of historical context.

Highrises, new arena and north side stands planned for Lansdowne

The city has admitted that Lansdowne has not been a profitable development – in fact they are losing money. As a bid to fix mistakes made during the first round of redevelopment in the early 2010s, Lansdowne 2.0 was unveiled in 2023 to, again, mixed opinions.  

A new arena is the vocal point of the plan. It will move to where a popular winter tobogganing hill currently stands and would take up about one third of the great lawn which will be reconfigured, but will still have greenspace lost. Initial plans proposed a green roof on top of the arena, but those drawings were axed due to cost. If that option was chosen, the arena would have been built underground and the current berm would have remained in place. 

Shovels were supposed to be in the ground this year with a completion date in 2027, but the project is at least a year – if not more – behind schedule. 

Stage 2 of the project would see the north side stands completed by 2029. Then as part of the final third stage, two residential towers would be built where the current arena stands by 2034. The original plans proposed that three towers be built, but Mayor Mark Sutcliffe told reporters in October 2023 that he was more comfortable with two. They would be towers of 40 and 25 storeys with up to 770 residential units, down from 1,200.

“This new plan will make the financial model for Lansdowne, and for the partnership that we have with the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, sustainable, realistic, and responsible,” said Sutcliffe.

Two towers instead of three will also create less of a shadow effect. There were concerns over how it would dim the light near the historical Aberdeen Pavilion where flea markets and events are held. Even under the current plans this is still a worry. 

The initial cost for the project first came in at $332 million, but when the revamp was unveiled a year later, it climbed to $419.1 million. But even then the price could be higher. In June 2021  Ottawa's Auditor General said delays and rising construction costs could bring it closer to $500 million. 

“Given the inherent risks related to construction, including the delayed construction horizon and already increasing construction costs, we believe this approach has resulted in some construction estimates that are optimistic," wrote Auditor General Nathalie Gougeon.

With interest, taxpayers will pay $656 million over 40 years — totalling $16.4 million per year.

Steep costs, lack of transparency, and uncreativity worries community members

Right from the beginning the Glebe Community Association has been vocal about their discontent with the new Lansdowne Park plans. In January 2024, they launched an appeal with the Ontario Land Tribunal over the loss of greenspace.

In June, it was dismissed due to the Ontario government's new housing legislation designed to “cut red tape and build homes faster.” It is aimed at reducing “unnecessary regulatory burden, delays and costs for utility projects," according to the provincial government. 

In an interview with the Ottawa Lookout, Glebe Community Association planning chair Carolyn Mackenzie said they aren’t giving up their fight despite the lost appeal. In her mind there is no reason why the arena needs to move from its current location. 

“If the city wants to put a tower on site I believe we can put it at the west end of a new arena. This space can accommodate both a new arena and a 40-storey tower,” said Mackenzie. “The current plans have the tobogganing hill gone. A modified berm would be there, but it’s not even half the width of the current one. It’s also at the far end. It could no longer be used for tobogganing unless you’re three-years-old.”

An urban design review panel appointed by the city has reviewed the site plan and the project, and they have commented serious concerns over the arena design and how it would impact both pedestrian and vehicle traffic flow. 

There are also concerns over the project's finances. A city memo said Lansdowne 2.0 would be funded through the sale of air rights, allocation of the incremental future property taxes, and additional waterfall distributions to the City that includes a “guaranteed” payment from the ticket surcharge. Internal City costs such as project management resources will be funded by the annual capital budget envelope throughout the construction timeframe. 

“This funding strategy ensures there are sufficient projected sources of additional revenue to fund the estimated cost of construction to make this project revenue neutral with no additional cost to taxpayers,” the memo read. 

But the community association isn’t convinced. 

“The primary concerns are the riskiness of the financials. The city says they’d pull 75 per cent of the taxes from those two towers. I don’t think any rationale case has been made for how using 75 per cent of property taxes for those towers makes any sense,” said Mackenzie. “If they only need 25 per cent then why are my taxes so high? There is also a risk factor over the timing. The city is relying on those buildings being completed by 2032. What reassurance does the city have that it can kick off on those property taxes?”

Mackenzie also believes the north side stands can be renovated to last longer. Their removal would also result in the loss of businesses which front the stands. They were only built in 2014. The list includes Good Life Fitness which would most likely temporarily move into the Horticulture Building, a coffee shop, a cinnamon bakery, and a cigar shop. 

The $110 million stands would only be used about a handful of times a year for RedBlacks Games and the annual university Panda Game, Mackenzie added, noting Atletico Soccer only sells the south stands. 

“The stands are not at the end of their life expectancies. I believe that’s not a debatable point,” she said. “The engineering report said that with regular maintenance you could keep the facilities going. It’s not perfect or the shiny object we want to have, but in this economic crisis can we afford a brand new facility?”

The city says otherwise. An engineering study in 2019 concluded, “the existing north stands and the arena at TD Place currently function at levels well below contemporary standards and will continue to decline in performance.” Costs to fix this would be $625 million over the next 50 years. 

The new grandstands would also have about 3,000 fewer seats but room for an additional 900 fans standing. The arena would be smaller too, with a capacity for 5,500 to 6,500 spectators compared to the current 8,585. 

This is raising concerns for the new PWHL women’s hockey team recently unveiled as the Ottawa Charge. As Hockey News reported , this would not negatively impact the Ottawa 67s which averaged 4,213 fans per year, but would for the average 7,496 fans which frequent the PWHL games. Seven of the 12 home games also brought in more than 8,000 fans each. That also doesn’t take into account the various concerts and other functions which use the arena space.  

A divided council

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has been steadfast in his belief that an improved Lansdowne Park will benefit the entire city.

“We’ve eliminated one of the three towers — in fact one of the tallest — and reduced the density on the site. We’ve increased public space, we’ve improved the plan for the events centre and we’ve allocated money for affordable housing,” Sutcliffe said in a May 2023 video. ”It’s a much better plan. The cost of doing nothing is enormous. Taxpayers would be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars over the coming years. The arena and stands would start to crumble and we would go back to having Lansdowne fall apart. But if we invest in Lansdowne it will cost less and we will get so much more.”

That’s not a sentiment echoed by Capital ward councillor Shawn Menard who recently launched a petition where residents can share their disagreement with the plan. 

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