OT: Lebreton master plan released

[Fandlauer]

Looks like they left room for an "events center."

Click to read more...

 

[Qward]

I wish Melnyk wasnt a broke jerkface.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Looks like they left room for an "events center."

Hopefully one day...hopefully

 

[Fandlauer]

 

[GCK]

Looks bad for a Lebreton Arena.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Whatever, it's never going to happen as long as Melnyk keeps us all hostage.

 

[Fandlauer]

 

[pt_mck]

Looks bad for a Lebreton Arena.

They reserved space along Albert St for an "event centre" The space is big enough for an NHL sized arena. Some one just needs to step up with a bucket full of cash.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

They reserved space along Albert St for an "event centre" The space is big enough for an NHL sized arena. Some one just needs to step up with a bucket full of cash.

Seems like they also need an NHL team though, otherwise it makes no sense to fund it and we now know Melnyk isn't willing to play ball fairly.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

I wonder how long they'll keep that placeholder for.

 

[GCK]

The opportunity to fund an arena using development revenues is gone now that they will be selling and developing the parcels individually. I can't imagine anyone buying the team AND funding a Lebreton arena which would be close to 1 Billion CDN. That doesn't fly in any CDN market other than Toronto. A downtown arena will need to be somewhere else IMO unless the NCC is convinced to sell off multiple parcels at once and coordinate with a sale of the team. Just too many moving parts.

 

[The Lewler]

I'm not sure how to feel about this. Someone tell me how to feel.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

I wonder if Devcore would still have interest in the arena, considering the fact they wouldn't have all of Lebreton to work with now.

 

[GCK]

I'm not sure how to feel about this. Someone tell me how to feel.

Feel both bad and good.

Bad no arena at Lebreton under current parameters.
Good because Melnyk won't be able to get a new arena done it Ottawa.
Good because the city, specifically Watson, has a lot riding on having an arena at Lebreton so perhaps under new ownership someday, public money may be on the table. (I'm reading into Jimbo's statement).

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Lets just hope the City doesn't put up a bunch of public money for Melnyk's benefit.

 

[Fandlauer]

Watson wants spot left for arena in case Sens ever decide to move there.

 

[GCK]

Lets just hope the City doesn't put up a bunch of public money for Melnyk's benefit.

Zero chance of that. I think the city would let the team leave before giving a dime to Melnyk.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Zero chance of that. I think the city would let the team leave before giving a dime to Melnyk.

Ya you're probably right, seems like that bridge has been burned. Just wouldn't seem right to see that happen after everything that's transpired.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Zero chance of that. I think the city would let the team leave before giving a dime to Melnyk.

I could probably see them caving in and paying a portion under different ownership.

Now, I don't like the idea of public money being used to fund a sports arena at all, but that seems to be a reality with small markets. Look at Edmonton and Calgary for example (Edmonton's deal looks pretty bad).

Devcore say they have the resources and they've also said they would be open to building an arena and having Melnyk's Sens as a tenant, but who knows how things will play out now that the NCC has taken the project over?

 

[GCK]

I could probably see them caving in and paying a portion under different ownership.

Now, I don't like the idea of public money being used to fund a sports arena but that seems to be a reality with small markets. Look at Edmonton and Calgary for example (Edmonton's deal looks pretty bad).

Under new ownership I can see something similar to Calgary although not quite as lucrative. An arena would not drive the development as it is happening anyway. The real pressure point is Jimbo's pet project includes 2 stations at Lebreton, the junction of both lines is there and this will be the eventual light rail link to Gatineau.

 

[Upgrayedd]

On the positive at least Eugene didn't get his hands on this area, it's one thing to torpedo the team we all love but doing that to the city most of us live in and enjoy would have been next level.

 

[BankStreetParade]

They must know something the rest of us don't. Leaving a piece of land the size of section 10 open, just in case someone wants to build an events center there? They could have presumably put something else there and benefited from a complete vision. That's not ideal planning. It's like remodelling your house except you didn't paint anything so you have this drywall eyesore in the background all the time, no matter how nice the furniture and the finishes are.

 

[milkbag]

They must know something the rest of us don't. Leaving a piece of land the size of section 10 open, just in case someone wants to build an events center there? They could have presumably put something else there and benefited from a complete vision. That's not ideal planning. It's like remodelling your house except you didn't paint anything so you have this drywall eyesore in the background all the time, no matter how nice the furniture and the finishes are.

ehhh I'd say its more like building a house and furnishing everything except 1 room because you're waiting for your Step-Dad to put nice couches and an entertainment system in there. Your current Step-Dad sucks big time but maybe one with deeper pockets will come along soon.

They're just going to keep section 10 as park land, as is per Ottawa tradition, until an arena gets put there.

 

[aragorn]

As long as EM is the owner of this team, I assume he will want something to move downtown that will benefit him personally like zero cost for the land, city pays half for the arena & he gets all gate, parking & other revenue streams associated with the arena.

By the way, if there is an attendance problem now mostly because the fan base hates the owner, will moving downtown improve that problem significantly enough for EM to still make enough money to continue to operate this team?

 

[GCK]

As long as EM is the owner of this team, I assume he will want something to move downtown that will benefit him personally like zero cost for the land, city pays half for the arena & he gets all gate, parking & other revenue streams associated with the arena.

By the way, if there is an attendance problem now mostly because the fan base hates the owner, will moving downtown improve that problem significantly enough for EM to still make enough money to continue to operate this team?

Honestly can't see him getting it done anywhere in Ottawa. He is PNG.