Tomorrow, Tuesday September 7, at 10 a.m. the City’s Corporate and Economic Development Committee will be considering approval of a request for offer process for the air rights for the residential and office components of the Lansdowne Partnership Plan.

It is important that we make concerns known. Please take the time to send an email to committee members: rob.jellett@ottawa.ca, steve.desroches@ottawa.ca, rainer.bloess@ottawa.ca, glenn.brooks@ottawa.ca, rick.chiarelli@ottawa.ca, diane.deans@ottawa.ca, eli.el-chantiry@ottawa.ca, maria.mcrae@ottawa.ca, bob.monette@ottawa.ca, marianne.wilkinson@ottawa.ca. Also please copy carole.langford@ottawa.ca (she is the committee secretary).

Here is the crux of what is being proposed:

• the city is proposing a two-stage competitive process for the leasing/selling of the air rights for 392,000 sq. feet of residential and office component at Lansdowne Park (note: this is in addition to all the retail)
• stage 1 (starting in October) is a call for expressions of interest; developers who meet viability criteria then have commercially confidential meetings with the City (out of the public eye) that will allow the city to come up with specifications and legal agreements
• stage 2 (in January 2011) is a public request for offer for construction to begin in May 2011

The justification for the aggressive schedule is that all construction must be completed in time for the football season of 2013.

While it is good that the city is proposing a competitive rather than a sole source process, there are several concerns, about the timing and about the actual sale/scale of the air rights.

Here are some of the concerns:

TIMING CONCERNS

• the site is not yet rezoned--no office or residential uses are currently permitted at Lansdowne Park; it is presumptuous for the city to be coming up with a process to sell air rights for land uses that are prohibited under its own zoning by-law.
• there is no integrated site plan for Lansdowne Park yet; nor have major decisions such as the location of the Horticulture Building been decided. It is premature for the city to be talking about selling air rights before there is an approved site plan (this information will not be available till November--until after the election) . The city is making assumptions about the amount of square footage and where buildings will be located before proper approvals have been provided.
• this council is about to enter an election where Lansdowne will be one of the key election issues; this council should wait for the results of the election before moving forward with this.
• the only reason given for the 'aggressive schedule' is to facilitate football in 2013-- there is no consideration of other factors (e.g. Bank Street construction in 2011 and 2012).

SUBSTANTIAL CONCERNS

• leasing or selling air rights means that for all intents and purposes Lansdowne is being privatized (even if land technically remains public, it is hard to see how it remains public if private residences are built on it).
• there has been no public information or consultation on the principle of selling air rights--and the implications of this for public access and public use. No consultation is planned.
• the development densities for residential and office are very high (392,000 sq. feet--note this is not the retail space just the residential and office ) and the densities have not previously been revealed publicly or discussed.
• the city has estimated potential revenue or $10.2 million from the lease or sale of air rights--no information is provided on how that was arrived at.
• the only criteria for judging offers is financial return to the city -- there needs to be other criteria such as design, community impact, public access, etc.
• the report says that the development program respects the existing urban fabric, neighbourhood form and the limits of existing hard services so that the revitalized Lansdowne is integrated seamlessly with both the local community and larger city fabric. This is simply not true and has not been demonstrated in any way.

Here is the link to the committee report on Air Rights.

Please note that the air rights issue is being discussed on September 7; the rezoning is September 14.