The arena saga continues.
The National Hockey League’s Ottawa Senators owner Michael Andlauer is going to have to wait a bit longer to get land near Ottawa’s Parliament Hill in the Canadian capital to house an arena for his business. National Capital Commission chief executive officer Tobi Nussbaum said that talks to finalize the sale of 10 acres of land to the Senators’ ownership continues and he hopes to complete the deal by the end of 2025. “When we announced our memorandum of understanding in the fall, I think in answer to that question that was posed, we identified before the end of 2025 as the time by which we want to have all of our i’s dotted and t’s crossed on an agreement of purchase and sale finalized. Where things stand are the conversations between the two parties are continuing. There were meetings and the two teams meet regularly.”
The LeBreton Flats parcel has been a place of interest for two Ottawa Senators ownership groups as a possible site for a venue. On June 23rd, 2022, the Senators’ business received preferred bidder status from the National Capital Commission for the land. Then Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, just before his passing on March 28th, 2022 signed off on an expression of interest to build a LeBreton Flats events center and a hotel. The franchise was put up for sale by Melnyk’s daughters after his death and Andlauer took over the business. The NHL did not require that Andlauer be tied to the LeBreton Flats property. Initially, Andlauer was not sure about the property’s viability and whether it would be a good fit for his business. He decided LeBreton Flats was a good spot and hoped the building would open in 2029. but constructing an arena might not be easy as he hoped.
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