Motion coming to committee to add 3rd residential tower back to Lansdowne 2.0

A motion will be brought forward to Thursday's joint meeting of the city's finance and planning committees to add a third residential tower back to the Lansdowne 2.0 plan, CTV News Ottawa has learned.

Councillors on the two committees are being asked to vote on the $419.5-million revised concept plan for Lansdowne, which includes a new 5,500 seat arena outside the east end of the stadium, replacing the north side stands at TD Place Stadium and building two residential towers.

The original Lansdowne 2.0 plan had three residential towers, but one of the towers was removed for a revised plan that committee is being asked to approve.

A rendering of the proposed redevelopment of Lansdowne Park, including new north side stands, a new event centre, and three residential towers. The project is projected to cost $330 million. (Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group/Handout)

The motion to be brought before committee, obtained by CTV News Ottawa, cites the need to build more housing as the reason for adding the third tower back to the plan.

"The third tower would introduce additional density to Lansdowne above the 1,050-unit cap, and provide potential increased financial funding for the Lansdowne 2.0 project," the motion says.

It's unclear how this might affect the cost of the plan. The revised plan, which removed one of the towers, also added $87.5 million to the original $332-million price tag.

The Lansdowne 2.0 plan is the only item on the agenda at Thursday's joint meeting, but it could take several hours to hear from all of the public speakers, and the meeting could potentially stretch into another day before a vote is called.

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The Lansdowne 2.0 plan has faced strong opposition from community groups and some city councillors, though a recent Ekos Research poll prepared for the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group found a majority of respondents in favour of the plan.

"I think there will be lots of delegations, lots of motion that will come forward, I think emotions will run high," said Capital Ward Coun. Shawn Menard, whose ward encompasses Lansdowne Park.

Menard has been opposed to the redevelopment since it was first brought before the last term of council.

"There is an overwhelming, public concern about the plan, we have received the vast majority of emails that are oppose to it and public sentiment I believe is against this plan and so (residents) are just wanting us to get this right," Menard said.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said he is expecting a "healthy discussion" on Thursday.

"We own Lansdowne park. It is our asset, it belongs to the people of Ottawa. It has been a great success so far; we have seen millions of people to go Lansdowne for events, the farmers’ market, to the movies, we just need to build on that and build on the weak parts of the current site," Sutcliffe said. "We have to invest in Lansdowne Park one way or the other."

Sutcliffe also said he's heard about the concerns around the level of housing in the revised plan.

"I have heard about the level of affordable housing and I am open to increasing the amount of investment that we make in affordable housing as a result of this discussion, so I think you will see some discussion about that around the table at the committee meeting."

The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

--With files from CTV News Ottawa's Graham Richardson and Leah Larocque.