Price tag for Lansdowne 2.0 sits at $418.8 million

The proposed Lansdowne 2.0 includes a new 5,500 seat event centre and a new north-side stands for TD Place. (City of Ottawa/website)

The Lansdowne 2.0 project, which will include a new 5,500 seat event centre and a new north-side stands at TD Place, will cost $418.8 million if approved by council this fall, slightly less than the initial $419 million estimate.

• Here’s what you need to know about Lansdowne 2.0

Standing next to a sign that said, “Lansdowne 2.0: More for Less,” Mayor Mark Sutcliffe provided an update on the Lansdowne 2.0 redevelopment and construction approval plan. Sutcliffe said it would cost $313 million to build the new event centre and north-side stands, down from the $315 million estimate.

“The news today is Lansdowne 2.0 will cost us much less than we thought it would when the plan was approved by city council two years ago,” Sutcliffe said.

“The actual construction cost is lower than we forecast, the total project cost is lower than we forecast, and the actual revenues from the air rights are much higher than we forecast.”

Sutcliffe said the full construction project value is $418.8 million, “less than what was estimated two years ago.”

“The actual revenue from air rights, based on bids from builders, will be $65 million, which is higher than the $39 million we estimated two years ago,” Sutcliffe said.

“When you deduct all the revenues that will be produced from this project, then the net cost to taxpayers is $130 million.”

Sutcliffe spoke to reporters before city staff released the Lansdowne 2.0 redevelopment and construction approval plan, amendments to the Lansdowne Partnership Agreements, an Economic Impact Analysis and the Lansdowne 2025 annual report to the media and the public.

The report names EBC Inc. as the successful bidder to demolish the Civic Centre and north-side stands and build the new facilities.

“EBC Inc. is a Canadian construction industry leader, and is active in the building, mining, and major civil engineering sectors. EBC builds in a responsible, sustainable and equitable manner and is recognized for large-scale projects such as office buildings, hospitals and research centres, educational institutions, residential complexes, hotels, malls, factories and sports and cultural centres,” staff said in a document released late Monday afternoon.

“The Lowest Responsive Bid (EBC Inc.) was $315.98 million, and the final negotiated fixed price bid being recommended in this report is $312.82 million. The bids received are valid until January 16, 2026.”

Mirabella Development Corporation was selected as the preferred bidder for the two residential buildings and the City proceeded to negotiate a Purchase and Sale Agreement for the air and subterranean rights in the amount of $65 million.

“Mirabella provided a concept plan with their bid proposing two high-rise mixed-use buildings of up to 40 storeys, atop a 2-storey retail podium. Conceptually the design includes a range of condominium, rental accommodation and hotel uses with an estimated 770 units. The residential design intent is to deliver larger units, such as twobedroom and three-bedroom units, to ensure the new development sustains family size units,” the report says.

“The retail podium will comply with the City and Partnership requirements of 4,550 square metres of replacement retail, with the development of a grand entrance into the new North Side Stands between the two towers. This will also provide parking for the Event Centre. Mirabella indicated that having rights to the City parking under the North Side Stands would be required for their development.”

The city says $58.3 million of the $65 million from the sale of air and subterranean property rights will be divided between the Lansdowne 2.0 project, the city-owned parking beneath the north-side stands, and the city’s affordable housing reserve.

If approved by committee and council, construction on the new event centre will run from 2025 to 2028, the new north-side stands will be conducted from 2028 to 2030 and the residential development will begin after 2031.

The annual investment for taxpayers is $4.3 million a year compared to the $5 million a year that was budgeted in 2023, the mayor said.

City staff previously estimated the price tag for Lansdowne 2.0, with the event centre and a north-side stands, at $419 million.

Sutcliffe said the City of Ottawa received three bids to build the new event centre and north-side stands and the lower costs will not result in changes.

“Nothing significant has changed from the previous plan. What’s changed is we now know these are the final numbers of the construction costs, for the air rights revenue, for some of the other revenues that are going to be generated by the site,” Sutcliffe said. “We know going forward what the construction costs will be; it’s a fixed-price contract; there’s contingencies built into it…so we can move forward with this plan.”

The Lansdowne 2.0 project includes a new event centre to replace the existing Arena at TD Place, and tearing down the north-side stands at Lansdowne to build a new north-side seating area. The city has said capacity for the new event centre will be 6,600 for hockey and 7,000 for concerts. The capacity for the north-side stands will be reduced from 14,000 to 12,400.

As part of the plan, two new residential towers would be built next to the new north-side stands at TD Place, with 700 units for condominium, rental accommodation and hotel uses. Sutcliffe said the housing will result in $14.4 million for affordable housing.

The finance and corporate services committee will debate the report on Oct. 29, before council has the final say in November.

$483 million cost?

Capital Ward Coun. Shawn Menard is raising concerns about the mayor’s cost estimates.

“The mayor’s not being accurate. The price tag is $483 million,” Menard told reporters.

“The mayor did not include the extra costs for the retail podium, which are going up to $44 million, and he did not include the $19 million parking costs that the city is building for the residential tower.”

Menard said the mayor’s projections that taxpayers only pay $130 million for Lansdowne 2.0 “assumes everything goes right.”

“It assumes we get annual $6.3 million from revenues. It assumes that this deal, which I understand is being extended to 2075, will produce the results 50 years from now,” Menard said.

Under the partnership with the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG), the city would cover the cost of building the new arena and football stadium stands.

“For every $1 we invest in Lansdowne, we’ll get more than $3 in value,” Sutcliffe said.

“Let’s be abundantly clear, the cost of this project to taxpayers is not $419 million or half-a-billion dollars, as some people have been saying. When all the revenues generated by the project are counted, the net cost to taxpayers is much less than that. The investment from taxpayers will be $130 million.”

In June 2024, the auditor general warned construction cost estimates could be understated by $73.4 million for the new arena and north-side stands.

In April 2024, council voted 19 to 6 in favour of moving forward with the procurement delivery model for the Lansdowne 2.0 project.

The Ottawa Civic Centre opened in December 1967. The 57-year-old arena is one of the oldest municipal arenas of its use in Canada, according to the city.