Melnyk feeling more confident than ever
Mayor Jim Watson stood outside his office on Friday, shoulder to shoulder with the bigwigs of the RendezVous LeBreton Group, to spread positive vibes about the LeBreton Flats redevelopment.
Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk and Trinity executive chair John Ruddy were at city hall to discuss the massive project, and while they wouldn’t share the substance of their conversations about finances during the 90-minute meeting, the hockey tycoon assured reporters that he has the dough to follow through with RendezVous’ vision.
“We are fully capable of funding our portion of what we need to accomplish,” Melnyk said. “As a team effort here, everything that is required can get done.”
Melnyk said there are still “hurdles” that he prefers to view as “challenges,” but he wouldn’t elaborate on what they are. They’re “nothing insurmountable,” he said.
“With the mayor’s leadership here, I have more confidence today than ever. I’m very confident this is going to go forward,” Melnyk said.
An NHL arena would anchor the new mixed-use community on the Flats, which is prime federal land managed by the National Capital Commission.
RendezVous, which wants to build residential towers, a Sensplex, an abilities centre and other amenities, is in negotiations with the NCC on a master development agreement. The NCC chose the RendezVous bid in April 2016 and talks have been ongoing.
Melnyk said he believes RendezVous and the NCC are close to reaching a final deal, but he emphasized the huge amount of work being done to get there. The NCC has eyed 2019 as the timeline for the signed agreement.
Watson seemed more comfortable with the progress than he was last spring when he openly questioned if Melnyk was serious about the project. He doesn’t want the city to stand in the way of the work.
“We don’t want to be a hindrance to that,” Watson said. “We’ve told our staff that this is a project that we want to roll out the red carpet and not the red tape on, because it’s a very massive investment on the part of the private sector. We want to be a willing partner.”
RendezVous isn’t seeking city money for the redevelopment. Watson has been firm that no Ottawa property tax money should fund the private sector’s redevelopment scheme.
The city, however, could be responsible for infrastructure like the internal road network, underground pipes and parks — things that development charges and new property tax revenue would help fund over the long term.
Watson said he discussed with RendezVous the municipal planning paperwork that will be required for the development, such as official plan amendments, zoning amendments and site plans.
“They’ve undertaken to come forward with their package and proposal in the next little while, because we have to undertake our review of the proposal and have full public consultation on it,” Watson said.
Melnyk has been skeptical about the amount of residential development being planned in and around the Flats. Ruddy ’s company, Trinity, is a major partner in the development group that’s building a 65-storey complex beside the Bayview O -Train station.
Asked on Friday if he still has concerns about the amount of residential intensification around the Flats, Melnyk said “potentially.”
“We’re trying to work through that,” he said. “We have studies ongoing. We’ve conducted two studies. We now know there’s another study conducted on this. We’ll let the professionals come to their conclusions.”
Melnyk said RendezVous isn’t scaling down its plans.
“The one thing that is constant always is that we are here to stay in Ottawa for a very, very long time and we want to make sure the LeBreton project, if accomplished, is a success for many, many years for our children’s children and that’s the way we’re looking at it,” Melnyk said.
Ruddy was asked if there’s any truth to rumours that he’s considering buying the Senators.
“Absolutely none,” he said.