The Ottawa Senators and the National Capital Commission (NCC) have reached an agreement in principle regarding the sale of a 10-acre parcel of land in Ottawa on Friday, the next step toward building a new downtown arena for the team in the LeBreton Flats district.
The two sides announced the agreement ahead of a deadline Friday before a memorandum of understanding, signed in 2022, was set to expire.
“We are pleased to take this next step in the process with the National Capital Commission," Senators president Cyril Leeder said Friday. "Our ultimate desire is to build a world-class, multi-event center in the heart of Ottawa-Gatineau that can be enjoyed for generations to come.
"Today represents an important step towards achieving that goal and we are committed to working with the NCC and other key stakeholders to make this a reality.
"It's a great first step, but we've got a lot of work ahead of us here. This allows that work to take place."
The Capital Sports Development Inc. (CSDI), the parent company of the Senators, and NCC will begin due diligence working together on next steps and project timelines.
LeBreton Flats is 1.24 miles southwest of Parliament Hill, where the Parliament of Canada is located.
The deal also includes plans for an entertainment district around the rink, including bars, restaurants and on-site parking.
Since 1996, the Senators have played their home games at Canadian Tire Centre -- also formerly known as The Palladium (January 1996) and Corel Centre (1996-2006), located in Kanata, Ontario, a suburb located about 15 miles west of the proposed site of the new arena.
“This agreement with CSDI and the Senators is great news for the National Capital Region," NCC CEO Tobi Nussbaum said. "The major events center and arena district will bring life and excitement to LeBreton Flats.
"This partnership will build on the development phases already announced as part of the NCC Building LeBreton project that will see 6,000 new housing units with an affordability target of 25 percent.”
There have been efforts in the past toward completing a downtown arena for the team, all of which failed. But Leeder said he feels the results will be different this time.
"I think it's different for a whole bunch of reasons," he said. "Most notably, we're in a position now where everybody wants this to happen. The team wants it to happen, Tobi and his team want this to happen, I think the community wants it to happen. We really are at a point where having an arena downtown is going to be great for the Senators. We firmly believe that. ... So I think the stars are aligned now, and the timing is good."
There has been no design work as yet and there is no estimate for the cost of the project.
"(There is) A lot of heavy lifting to do on the reports and the studies we need done," Leeder said. "We'll need to go through those and there are just too many parameters, too many variables to predict how long it's going to take. I know it's years, not months, before a shovel goes in the ground. So it's going to take some time to get to that point, but again, this allows that work to take place and move forward in earnest now."
Leeder said the project is expected to be funded privately.
"If you look at the history in Canada, public venues have not been funded by the taxpayer," he said. "That's the history, that's what we've done in this country and that's our expectation as well."
The agreement comes one day before Michael Andlauer's one-year anniversary as Senators owner.
Building a new arena has been front and center in Andlauer's plans for the franchise. Following tours last season of UBS Arena, home of the New York Islanders, and Climate Pledge Arena, home of the Seattle Kraken, Andlauer said he hoped to utilize what he observed during those visits.
"We try to ‘R and D’ -- rip off and duplicate -- all of the best-in-class everywhere," Andlauer said on Dec. 4, 2023, "and hopefully we'll be in position one day where we have a piece of land somewhere and we're able to do something pretty special for the fans ... I'm here to learn, learn about what's best-in-class and also understand what our fans want, what our politicians are looking for, timeline with NCC."
NHL.com independent correspondent Callum Fraser contributed to this report
