Senators and NCC still working through contamination, design and financing at LeBreton

Nearly 14 months after the Senators and National Capital Commission reached an agreement for the team to purchase 11 acres at LeBreton Flats, work continues on three fronts with no public timeline yet for shovels in the ground.

"There has actually been a lot of progress made. It's admittedly not always obvious to the public," NCC CEO Tobi Nussbaum told the Ottawa Citizen. "The conversations are going well and the meetings continue. It takes time. It's a complex matter and a complex site. But we continue to feel confident that we're moving toward eventual shovels in the ground."

The Senators and NCC are focused on site decontamination, arena and district design, and financing. Michael Andlauer and his partners agreed to pay $37 million for the 11 acres. However, 514,000 cubic metres of soil must be removed from the site — most of it contaminated — requiring an estimated 34,000 dump-truck loads. "It's just getting into the details of how those soils will be removed, how they'll be treated and who is responsible for what," Nussbaum said.

Once cleanup is complete, the Senators and NCC hope to begin underground parking garage work. The Senators are working with architects on the arena and surrounding district, which will include a hotel, restaurants, bars, public spaces, and residential housing. Local developers have suggested six or seven towers could surround the arena. The Senators visited several major new arenas across North America for design ideas and hope to unveil their plans in early 2027.

In July, the NCC also secured an agreement with Hydro Ottawa to bring a next-generation low-carbon district energy system to LeBreton Flats, cutting carbon emissions by roughly 90 per cent for the major events centre.