Ottawa Senators, NCC finalize land deal for new arena near downtown
The Ottawa Senators are one step closer to having a new arena in the city’s downtown core.
The Senators and the National Capital Commission have agreed on the sale of 4.5 hectares (11 acres) of land at LeBreton Flats for the project.
The agreement of purchase and sale with Capital Sports Development Inc., the team’s development arm, follows a deal reached with the NCC last September for a development that includes a new arena. It will allow zoning, design and approvals to proceed, along with decontamination of the site to prepare for construction.
“We are pleased to reach an agreement of purchase and sale with the NCC to take the next step in this process,” Senators CEO and President Cyril Leeder said in a statement.
“There are still many more hurdles to clear, and we look forward to working with the NCC and other stakeholders to achieve our shared vision of creating an event centre at LeBreton Flats that can be enjoyed by our Ottawa-Gatineau community.”
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In a release, the sides said “the agreement is a key step in bringing a major events centre and arena district, including mixed-use development, to LeBreton Flats.”
The new arena would give the Senators a more central home than their current base at the Canadian Tire Centre in suburban Kanata. The suburb, about 25 kilometres from the city’s core, has been home to the Senators since 1996.
The Senators signed a memorandum of understanding with the NCC in June 2022 to develop LeBreton Flats, and with the purchase agreement now finalized the project can move toward construction.
A previous deal to redevelop LeBreton Flats and build an arena under former owner Eugene Melnyk collapsed in 2019 following a fallout between Melnyk and business partner John Ruddy.
Melnyk died in March 2022, and Michael Andlauer — a Toronto businessman and former minority owner of the Montreal Canadiens — purchased the team the following year.
The LeBreton Flats land deal, finalized under Andlauer’s ownership, replaces the earlier plan for a long-term lease of 2.4 hectares, giving the project a much larger footprint.
Last September, NCC CEO Tobi Nussbaum said the arena is just one part of a broader vision for LeBreton Flats, which will eventually include more than 6,000 housing units with a target of 25 per cent as affordable housing, as well as parks and public spaces.
“The promise of a major events centre will provide a lively and convenient attraction for residents and visitors, inject new energy and excitement into the core of the Nation’s capital and further catalyze the development of LeBreton Flats,” Nussbaum said in a statement Monday.
“This agreement builds on the two previous real estate transactions completed by the NCC since 2022 on the Building LeBreton project that will see over 2,000 new housing units, along with new retail and commercial spaces built on the site.”
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