By Don Butler – Ottawa Citizen – Published November 24, 2016, Updated November 25, 2016

Ottawa residents will have to wait at least another year to find out whether they can look forward to watching the Ottawa Senators play in a new downtown arena.

After hearing that enough progress has been made in talks with Eugene Melnyk’s RendezVous LeBreton group to designate it as the preferred proponent to develop LeBreton Flats, the National Capital Commission’s board agreed Thursday to begin formal negotiations.

All board members voted in favour other than Victor Brunette, who said he didn’t have “all the information I need” to make an informed decision and abstained.

NCC official Marco Zanetti said the agency’s negotiating team met 22 times over the past six months with RendezVous officials to resolve preliminary issues.

Read Full Article

By Peter Kovessy – Ottawa Business Journal – Published November 24, 2016

One of Ottawa’s largest urban redevelopment projects took a major step forward on Thursday morning, but the start of construction still remains more than a year away.

The National Capital Commission board of directors voted today to officially recognize RendezVous LeBreton as the preferred proponent to redevelop the 53-acre vacant property west of downtown.

The designation means the NCC can start officially negotiating an agreement with RendezVous LeBreton, a process that’s expected to take at least a year.

Read Full Article