GARRIOCH: Senators and NCC finally making progress in LeBreton Flats lease agreement

Published Sep 05, 2024  •  4 minute read

View of LeBreton Flats from a helicopter. Photo by Tony Caldwell /POSTMEDIA / FILE

There are still hurdles to make a deal, but there may finally be traction in talks between the Ottawa Senators and the National Capital Commission for a new arena at LeBreton Flats.

Sources told Postmedia on Thursday that with the Sept. 20 deadline looming large to get a lease in place to build a new rink on the site located 10 minutes West of Parliament Hill, the Senators and negotiators from the NCC are making tangible progress in discussions.

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Whether this will lead to a lease agreement remains to seen, but sources say the two sides are having give-and-take negotiations that give them better odds of getting a lease in place with only two weeks to the deadline.

“The NCC is willing to compromise on some of the issues that it once considered black and white going into this negotiation,” one well-placed source said Thursday. “I think there’s been more progress in the last couple of months than there was before that.”

We’ve reached the 11th hour between the Senators and the NCC, which means both sides will act in their own best interests. The club has stated it wants to be closer to downtown and the NCC signed an memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Senators in June 2022.

The two sides hoped to have a deal by last fall, but when Michael Andlauer took over as the owner last September, he asked NCC chief executive officer Tobi Nussbaum for a one-year extension to study the MOU and assemble a team to work with the NCC.

Getting a lease agreement isn’t the final step, but we’re told both sides are working now to see what they can agree to that will allow this process to move forward. A lease agreement is just one step in a long, winding road to putting shovels in the ground.

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Once it’s done, it will still have to go to the Heritage department in the federal government for approval. The Senators have already approached the province and the city about the possibility of working with them to help fund the project, but the first step is to get a lease in place.

It means they’ve agreed to terms and have some work to do.

“Both sides have put a lot of time, money and effort into this and they don’t want to let this slip away,” another source said. “The people at the NCC know that if they don’t get an agreement in place, nobody will be blaming the Senators and the finger will pointed directly at (the NCC).”

That may be why an NCC official told Postmedia in a statement last Friday it remains committed to a deal with the Senators. Whether anybody likes it or not if this agreement isn’t signed then there will be a blame game and the NCC will likely bear the brunt of the finger pointing.

“The NCC remains confident that providing the Ottawa Senators with the opportunity to build a downtown arena at LeBreton Flats is of tremendous value for the team, their partners and for fans,” the statement said.

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“We continue to demonstrate flexibility and openness in our conversations with the Ottawa Senators, we are still aiming to have an agreement in place for September 2024.”

This is the second time the Senators have tried to move to LeBreton Flats and the second time the NCC has gone down this road. A deal fell apart in 2018 when a partnership between late owner Eugene Melnyk and John Ruddy ended with both sides launching lawsuits against each other.

Senators president Cyril Leeder has played a lead role in these talks with the NCC, along with Andlauer’s partners, George Armoyan and Paul Paletta, and with Shawn Malholtra of Ottawa’s Claridge Homes. All three have a wealth of real estate experience to help get this across the finish line.

Leeder told Postmedia on Wednesday that both sides are getting down to brass tacks in these discussions.

“Definitely, this week, I’ve noticed a sense of urgency that we’ve got to make something happen if we’re going to make something happen,” Leeder said. “We’ve got (two) weeks to do it, let’s get at it here.”

Speaking on TSN 1200 on Thursday morning, Leeder reiterated that time is of the essence, but maintained he isn’t sure this will get completed.

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“I think there’s a willingness to try find a way to get something done,” Leeder said. “It’s taken this long, sometimes a deadline focuses the mind and gets parties to compromise on both sides and, hopefully, find some common ground. We’re not there yet, but we’re still talking and making some progress.

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“I’m hopeful that we’ll get there, but we’re not there yet.”

The Canadian Tire Centre, which opened in 1996, is the second-oldest building in the league behind the Calgary SaddleDome. The Flames have started construction on a new rink.

“It makes sense. They’ve set aside a piece of property for an arena at LeBreton, we’d like to be downtown, it’s a good location that’s right next to the key intersection point for the LRT. We just have to get to the terms of a business agreement that works for both sides,” Leeder said.

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