City Council will be making a decision next week (Friday, November 7) on the future of Lansdowne Park. This week at committee, we’re hearing from nearly 90 delegations, asking questions to city staff, and debating the pros and cons of the plan in front of us. This post is the first of two parts.
Part 1: How we got here
📆 May 2022: Do we need to redevelop the arena and stands at Lansdowne?
- The municipally-owned arena and north side stands that were built in 1967 are in poor shape:
❌ Can’t host events at the arena and stadium at the same time due to load restrictions.
❌ Inadequate dressing room space for major sports events and touring concerts; cannot host para sports (sledge hockey, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair curling).
❌ Accessibility: seating does not meet modern accessible standards; inadequate elevator access.
❌ Washrooms do not meet building code requirements; insufficient capacity for large events.
❌ Lack of premium suites and no press box in arena.
❌ Load-in / infrastructure does not support modern concert requirements.
❌ Arena does not meet modern energy efficiency standards = high heating & cooling costs.
❌ Concession (food) areas are substandard with health and safety issues.
❌ Physical deficiencies: Water infiltration, lack of insulation, undersized HVAC. - 🏟️ City Council considered several options including “do nothing”, “refurbishment” and “rebuild”.
- ✅ City Council voted to build new facilities, and directed staff to come up with a concept plan and funding strategy.
📆 November 2023: Staff present a concept plan and funding strategy for “Lansdowne 2.0”
- 🏟️ Includes a new arena/event centre, new north side stands, two high-rise residential towers, new retail space, and public realm enhancements.
- 💵 The construction would be funded from a variety of sources including new property tax revenue, developer air rights for the residential towers, and revenue from sports and events. The City would continue a partnership with OSEG to operate the site. Goal is to make the City’s costs as low as possible, by offsetting expenses with revenue from Lansdowne Park operations.
- ✅ City Council approved the concept and strategy, and directed staff to obtain bids for construction and air rights, negotiate terms of contracts, and refine financial projections, and bring final recommendations to Council in 2025.
🔎 Due diligence
- The Lansdowne 2.0 financial strategy was reviewed by a third-party evaluator (Ernst & Young) who tested assumptions on revenue and expenses, and advised Council on potential areas of risk.
- The financial strategy was also reviewed by the City’s Auditor General (AG), who reported to Council in June 2024.
- The AG concluded that “many of the assumptions that supported the financial information were reasonable and were supported by detailed analysis and evidence”, and provided several findings and recommendations.
- These included risk with construction costs; assumptions about the long-term partnership agreement with OSEG; the developer air rights valuation; and other aspects.
- The AG’s recommendations are incorporated into the October 2025 report to Council.
📆 October 2025: Staff present the final Lansdowne 2.0 plan and finances
With construction and air rights bids received, and refinements to the financial model, various aspects of the plan have come more into focus:
- ✅ Residential air rights revenue is $65-million (higher than the estimated $39-million).
✅ Construction costs for the North Side Stands and Event Centre is $313-million (lower than the estimate of $316-million). - 💡 Additional refinement to the financial model based on Auditor General recommendations and new information.
- 💵 Final capital cost $419-million, including $331-million of debt.
💵 Total debt payments are $17.4-million per year.
💵 After accounting for new revenue, the final cost to the city is estimated at $4.3-million per year. - 📒 The latest staff report and documentation on Lansdowne 2.0 is available here…
I’m publishing this on Thursday morning, still in the midst of the multi-day committee meeting. I’ll publish Part 2 after committee wraps up, with a focus on how I’m balancing risk and opportunity for Lansdowne 2.0.