Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and Capital ward Coun. Shawn Menard stand on opposite sides of the Lansdowne 2.0 debate. Read MoreMayor Mark Sutcliffe and Capital ward Coun. Shawn Menard differ on how much the project will cost the city. Here’s what they say.
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and Capital ward Coun. Shawn Menard differ on how much the project will cost the city. Here’s what they say.
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Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and Capital ward Coun. Shawn Menard stand on opposite sides of the Lansdowne 2.0 debate.
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Sutcliffe argues that Lansdowne 2.0 is a good deal that will help preserve a city asset. Acting now will help fix current problems, prevent mounting losses, increase city revenues and avoid higher repair and construction costs in the future. It will leverage new revenue streams, replace aging assets with leaky roofs, outdated layouts, limited washrooms and poor accessibility and keep Ottawa attractive to national and international events.
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Menard stands on the other side. He contends that Lansdowne 2.0 will demolish value assets with plenty of life left in them. It will shift more risk on the city — including long-term debt — and relies on projections of uncertain cash flows to finance that debt and competition from new entertainment venues, such as an Ottawa Senators arena.
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The Evening Citizen
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Menard contends that, if councillors vote against the proposal, OSEG will still be bound to its legal obligations. A “no” vote would reject the proposal as presented, not end the partnership, he said.
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“For a city that claims it’s financially strapped, Lansdowne 2.0 just doesn’t make sense,” Menard said.
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Here are the numbers Sutcliffe and Menard are using to bolster their arguments:
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Mayor Mark Sutcliffe
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418 million: Total value of the project
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130.7 million: How much the city will invest. That includes $82.7M in new debt not funded from new revenues, repaid over 40 years; $32.3M in debenture premium from Lansdowne 1.0 refinancing and $15.6M in funds from city capital reserves intended for infrastructure renewal
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$0: Tax increase for residents
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$535 million: Amount of private investment
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$4.3 million: How much the city will pay annually
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40 years: How long it will take to pay it back
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$8 million-plus: Estimated annual cost of doing nothing due to deferred construction, maintenance and operating costs
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$65 million: Air rights revenues
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$39 million: Previous estimated amount of air rights revenues
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$14.4 million: How much of this will be invested in affordable housing
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$9.75 million: Previous estimate of investment in affordable housing
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$590 million: Boost in GDP over the next decade if investment is made
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4,900: Jobs created over 10 years
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-36 per cent: Decrease in energy use
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-31 per cent: Decrease in greenhouse gas emissions
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$33.9 million: New revenue generated from the sale of air rights for residential towers
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$69 million: New revenue in property tax “uplift” for new towers