A last-gasp effort to rescue the $4.1B (all figures C) redevelopment plan for Ottawa's LeBreton Flats "has failed," sidelining the "prospect of an NHL arena downtown to anchor an ambitious remake of the western core" of the city, according to Kelly Egan of the OTTAWA SUN. Mediation talks "couldn't reach a settlement in a dispute among partners of RendezVous LeBreton," a consortium group that has spent four years and more than $4M in planning work for the project. The failure of the negotiation is "hardly surprising." Last fall, the partnership between Senators Owner Eugene Melnyk and Trinity Development Group Chair John Ruddy "erupted in dramatic fashion" with the launching of $1.7B in "damage claims in harshly-worded lawsuits." The National Capital Commission will meet March 7 to "finalize the elements of a new process," suggesting the group "has plan B at the ready." Melnyk "blamed the failure on what he considers the competing interests of his partners." Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, who is on the NCC board, is "holding out hope an arena deal is salvageable." Watson said that one idea is "carving off part of LeBreton for an arena, or a national institution, in the future" (OTTAWA SUN, 2/27).
NOT DONE YET: An OTTAWA CITIZEN editorial states it was "always hard to see how this struggling marriage" between Melnyk and Ruddy "could be patched up." However, this latest development "does not mean we are back at square one." When the NCC "initially named the Melnyk/Ruddy RendezVous pitch as its favourite vision for the Flats, it also identified a backup proposal from Devcore Canderel DLS." There were "good reasons to choose the RendezVous LeBreton group, but the DCDLC proposal was also attractive." However, that vision "didn't depend on an NHL arena," which should "never have been the only conceivable centrepiece for LeBreton" (OTTAWA CITIZEN, 2/28).
