Lansdowne Park is a 40-acre parcel of city-owned land that has been part of Ottawa’s history for 150 years. Centrally located with unique heritage features, green space, local sports, and city facilities.
The Lansdowne Partnership Plan (LPP)
On October 12, 2012, the City of Ottawa and the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (the “Partners”) entered a 30-year limited partnership agreement for the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park. Some concerns about the proposal and the process at the time can be found here.
The City of Ottawa
- Funded the renovation of the stadium and the development of the Urban Park
- Is responsible for the programming and management of the Urban Park which includes the Aberdeen Pavilion, Horticulture Building, Aberdeen Square, the Great Lawn, skating court, children’s play structure and community garden.
- Manages a long-term contract with the Ottawa Farmers Market
- Leases the Stadium/arena and retail land to OSEG for $1/year
- Retains ownership of all 40 acres of land
Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group
- Manages the sports teams on the site (with the city as a 50% silent partner for the 67’s and RedBlacks). The Project Agreement requires that the CFL team be operated for at least 8 years “unless the CFL ceases to operate during such period”. The team has been operated through 6 years being 2014 through 2019. The CFL did not operate in 2020, so two years of operation remain in this obligation.
- Is responsible for the operation and programming of the stadium, arena and parking
- Built and manages a mixed-use development that includes an office building and a large retail complex with restaurants, stores and a cinema (took out a loan for this).
The Subsidiary Businesses
- Ottawa 67s Limited Partnership (“Ottawa 67s”)
- Ottawa REDBLACKS Limited Partnership (“Ottawa REDBLACKS”)
- Lansdowne Stadium Limited Partnership (“Lansdowne Stadium”)
- Lansdowne Retail Limited Partnership (“Lansdowne Retail”)
The funding that goes into the partnership does not include:
- The sale of condo’s and associated fees on the site (air rights sold to Minto by the city)
- The other sports franchises
- Annual fees received from loan guarantees to the partnership
A complicated ‘Waterfall’ structure was set up to provide returns to the City and OSEG.
- The city is currently projected to receive $0 from this waterfall. The city funded $210 million of improvements to the stadium, arena, parking garage, horticulture building relocation and retrofit, urban park, and soft costs. The city took on debt and maintains a loan (Stadium and Parking Garage is $127.6M and $26.4M for the Urban Park), which it pays annual interest on. The only deemed equity considered in the waterfall for the city was $23.75 million for the ‘market value of the retail lands’.
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OSEG is deemed to have contributed $152 million. The city is estimating this contribution will increase. It is important to note that most of OSEG’s contribution ($97 million) came from annual ‘operational losses’ incurred, which are rolled back into the waterfall for OSEG with an 8% annual return. In the last two fiscal years, operational losses only occurred because of the depreciation of assets in the accounting.
Lansdowne 1.0 Timeline
- October 2007: The City of Ottawa initiates a redevelopment of Lansdowne Park due to cracks discovered in the stadium.
- October 2008: OSEG proposes a plan to revitalize Lansdowne Park by entering into a partnership with the City of Ottawa.
- April 2009: City Council directs City staff to work with OSEG to develop a plan to revitalize Lansdowne Park.
- September 2009: City of Ottawa staff and OSEG present City Council with a plan to redevelop and transform Lansdowne Park under a Lansdowne Partnership Plan (LPP).
- November 2009: City Council approves(External link) the Lansdowne Partnership Plan and directs staff to negotiate a project agreement framework with OSEG.
- June 2010: City Council approves the Lansdowne Partnership Plan and Implementation Report and votes to proceed with sole-source negotiations with OSEG after reviewing studies on the proposal.
- June 2011: Ontario Municipal Board Decision on Lansdowne
- October 2012: The legal closing of the LPP is approved by City Council and the City enters into a 30-year partnership with OSEG.
- November 2012: Construction begins on the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park.
- August 2014: Construction completed and Lansdowne Park reopens.