Group makes ‘very credible’ pitch for Halifax CFL franchise

[paulwoods13]

This dream of a CFL franchise on the East Coast is no closer to reality now than it was in 1982. There is no suitable stadium, and no one has stepped up with an offer to pay for one. The ticket price debacle for this upcoming Argo "home" game is hardly going to create a groundswell of public support for public expenditures on a stadium. It was a nice try by all concerned, but I'll be very surprised if there's a team out there any time soon.

[bannedforlife]

You might have to eat those words.

Because of the silence we can only assume two things, one, that the idea is withering on the vine or two, it is slowly prodding ahead.

How positive were commenters about Ottawa coming back with the court cases and organized protest resistance. How long did it take; much longer than it should have.

Why hasn't the proposed ownership group publicly announced it was no longer pursuing the project?

This little league of surprises has come up with some doozies in the past. Did anyone really think the Argos would get bought by Tannenbaum and Bell and even more surprising later Rogers. When little Regina talked about building a stadium did anyone believe it would be the best stadium in the country.

I may not be as confident as I once was but I'm not ready to give up on this yet. Just because there is no news doesn't mean it is bad. Same as the past purchase of the Argos and the present pending sale of the Als.

You mentioned the words "anytime soon" Personally, I don't think it should be anytime soon. The delays in the Redblacks finally getting to the field must have bought them time to be more prepared.

Halifax is one of the few cities of that size to not have a meaningful (10k+) outdoor stadium. That infrastructure is needed whether a CFL football team plays there or not.

[bannedforlife]

The ticket price debacle for this upcoming Argo "home" game is hardly going to create a groundswell of public support for public expenditures on a stadium.

Not quite sure of the connection there. Also if nobody shows up in Winnipeg for the NFL game does that negatively affect the NFL or is that like TD Atlantic a product of some overzealous promoters. At least TD Atlantic did a reasonable course correction.

[Mightygoose]

Didn't Leblanc say back in the spring he would know if this was feasible or not by June? Assuming he meant June of this year, then no they haven't thrown in the towel.

His mistakes IMO, is coming up with all of these timelines on when and where the team will start playing and when he expects shovels in the ground etc...

These projects take allot of time with most of the discussions going on behind closed doors. The big key IMO is the political will in wanting a facility like this when larger ones exist in smaller cities. If the will is there, the $$$ will be found.

[bannedforlife]

You are correct sir. I think we can all agree LeBlanc shot his mouth off prematurely and he isn't as likeable a salesman as Jeff Hunt. But recent comments from him suggest he has learned his lesson to be more prudent in his comments.

[paulwoods13]

Halifax is one of the few cities of that size to not have a meaningful (10k+) outdoor stadium. That infrastructure is needed whether a CFL football team plays there or not.

The kind of infrastructure that cities need is roads, sewers, power lines, etc. 10,000-seat stadiums that will use a sizeable portion of the seats maybe 20 times a year would not be anywhere near the top of the list of any urban planner, and likely not near the top of the list for any politician looking to get re-elected. (And since when does a 10,000+-seat stadium meet CFL requirements?)

[bannedforlife]

The kind of infrastructure that cities need is roads, sewers, power lines, etc. 10,000-seat stadiums that will use a sizeable portion of the seats maybe 20 times a year would not be anywhere near the top of the list of any urban planner, and likely not near the top of the list for any politician looking to get re-elected. (And since when does a 10,000+-seat stadium meet CFL requirements?)

Twenty times a year, seriously? Sport Nova Scotia is just one of the stakeholders we know about, they want this project. How many privately owned year round bubble structures are there in Toronto? I would think a helluva lot more than Halifax. A stadium structure is more than seats; offices, locker rooms, concessions would be used year round. Please, not the old "pave the roads" saw, if that were true you'd never see another library or theatre built. I have yet to see any organized resistance to this project. The latest recommendation is for a 12k permanent structure, with the Schooners on the hook for the stands on the opposite side of the field but anyone keeping up with the story would know that.

[bannedforlife]

And since when does a 10,000+-seat stadium meet CFL requirements?

Ask my good buddy "cflfan" according to him it is 8k

[1971GreyCup]

Rod Pederson reported that the Atlantic Schooners are moving to Moncton and will start 2021 season. Anyone else hear this? Apparently reported eight days ago.

[bannedforlife]

Rod Pederson reported that the Atlantic Schooners are moving to Moncton and will start 2021 season. Anyone else hear this? Apparently reported eight days ago.

Conjecture, Moncton has done no preparation for this, I believe this was another of LeBlanc's unofficial "pronouncements"

[bannedforlife]

Halifax CFL group submits plan to city
The Canadian Press TSN.ca August 31 2019

A partner in the business group trying to land a CFL franchise and stadium in Halifax says the group's long-awaited business plan is now in the hands of the municipality.

Anthony LeBlanc, of Schooners Sports and Entertainment, confirmed a "voluminous" package of information was submitted to Halifax's chief administrative officer after business hours Friday.

In an earlier interview, LeBlanc said the submission to the municipality's chief administrative officer, Jacques Dube, includes a 40-page main proposal along with accompanying documents that amount to hundreds of pages.

"We will work very closely with Mr. Dube and his staff over the next series of weeks and months as they review," LeBlanc said.

He said it was a relief to finally submit a package that was first promised last December.

"I know we are taking our lumps from people saying, 'Why has it taken longer?' Well, it's taken longer because we want to ensure that when we submit, it's everything that we can envision that HRM senior staff is going to require," he said.

He said the schedules accompanying the main proposal are the work of third-party experts recruited by the business group and Canada Lands Company, which controls the land where the business group has said it would like to build a $130-million stadium.

They include a real estate market and stadium impact analysis, planning assumptions and site plan revisions, along with a list of prospective community events for the stadium.

There are also letters of support from outside organizations, a revised master plan from Canada Lands, infrastructure designs, a traffic impact study, and a survey of stadium financing plans in the U.S. and Canada from a public-private partnership perspective.

LeBlanc said a previous economic impact analysis that was commissioned from Deloitte in May 2018 was also included.

He said it would be left up to the municipality to release any details in the documents.

Meanwhile, LeBlanc confirmed the business group is formally trying to get approval for a stadium in Shannon Park, which sits on land on the Dartmouth side of Halifax Harbour near the MacKay Bridge.

"I know that there will be some questions that come up and there will be evolution over the next months and even years as we move forward," LeBlanc said.

He said he wants people in Halifax to know Schooners Sports and Entertainment is serious in its intent.

"Obviously there are going to be people who are against it, and all we ask is that they look at the information with an open mind."

Halifax Mayor Mike Savage said in an interview last week that a final decision by regional council is not imminent.

Savage said once submitted, the business plan would be studied by city planning staff before it would go to council for consideration.

[doubleblue]

Conjecture, Moncton has done no preparation for this, I believe this was another of LeBlanc's unofficial "pronouncements"

What I heard talked about was Halifax finally approving around 12,000 permanent seats on one side and starting out with 8,000 temporary seats on the other side. But would still probably have to start the 2021 season in Moncton.

With the new extended contract each team would be looking at 5 million per year from TSN. But that could grow if as hinted by Randy, new TV deals are signed with Mexico and Europe. Which would then increase the salary cap more than the 50,000 a year the new contract calls for. For example one number mentioned maybe 3 million to start, and the players share would be around 100,000 per year added to the salary cap.
Another thing that should be good for the American players is when the USMCA North American deal gets going the Canadian Dollar will quite possibly start to rise close to par with the American Dollar. So with the CFL minimum going up to 65,000 next year and then eventually be worth that back in the States it will really help the CFL match some of the XFL salaries. Reported to be 50 to 100,00 US depending on the player. QB's probably leading the way of course. I can't see too many starting CFL QB's leaving to make 100,000 US in the XFL especially once the Dollar is at par again.

All small steps maybe but going in the right direction for the League and Players. Anybody have any concrete news to add or subtract? I'm just going by numbers I have seen mentioned.

[bannedforlife]

Schooner Sports and Entertainment's plan for a CFL team and a new Halifax stadium is expected to be revealed soon
Francis Campbell herald.ca September 24 2019

Regional council and local residents should get a preview of the plan to bring a Canadian Football League team and stadium to Halifax Regional Municipality within a couple of weeks.

“We received the proposal from the proponent (Schooner Sports and Entertainment) and we’re sifting through it,” Jacques Dube, chief administrative officer of the municipality, said Tuesday.

Dube said he and his team are working on a summary document to present to council and the public.

Dube and his staff were tasked nearly a year ago with assessing the viability of a proposal by principal SSE partners Anthony LeBlanc, Gary Drummond and Bruce Bowser and recommending to council if it should or should not be a go for the municipality.

The chief administrative officer and company only received the SSE plan in late August and Dube contends, despite the pending sneak preview for council, that his deliberation will take half a year.

“This is going to be a five- to six-month process, minimum, to get a final recommendation before council. At this point, we’re not in a position to recommend any particular option,” Dube said. “The update will be: here’s the proposal, here’s a summary of it, here’s all the documentation we’ve been given permission to release and we’ll be back to you, council, with a regular check-in.

“Obviously, should council want us to proceed with this, we’ll have a recommendation for them in five or six months from now, I suspect sometime in the spring,” he said.

Crown talks

The SSE ownership originally proposed a 24,000-seat stadium to be built at a cost of $190 million but tempered its vision to a $130-million community stadium with 12,000 permanent seats and the capability of adding 12,000 more temporary seats.

Through an agreement with Sport Nova Scotia, the stadium could accommodate minor sports when it is not in use for professional football.

SSE has negotiated with Canada Lands — the federal Crown corporation tasked with managing and redeveloping surplus military properties — for the purchase of an eight-hectare plot of land in the 33-hectare Shannon Park site by Halifax harbour.

In a recent note to its stakeholders, Canada Lands reported that it was approached by SSE in 2018. Canada Lands signed a letter of intent that outlined specific conditions that SSE must meet before it would consider any sale of land.

The conditions include requiring SSE and HRM to undertake public engagement with the community regarding a community stadium use; that Canada Lands and SSE co-ordinate efforts with Millbrook First Nation and neighbouring developing plans; and, that HRM approve a revised concept plan for Shannon Park lands.

“To date, the conditions outlined in the letter of intent have not been fully satisfied,” the Canada Lands notice said.

“That’s the site they suggested and we’ll look at that, certainly from a transportation and planning perspective, road access, ferry access, transit access, all those kinds of things, the impact on the neighbourhood,” Dube said. “We have no real comment to make until we’ve gone through it in a little more detail.”

Multiple funding options

Anthony LeBlanc said in an email Tuesday that his group has worked closely with senior staff at HRM over the past weeks to provide clarification where needed and to answer any questions.

“Both HRM and SSE strongly agree that it is of critical importance that we are transparent and very collaborative and consultative during this process, therefore we are working toward releasing the business plan and proposal to the public in the very near future,” LeBlanc said. “We humbly believe that we have put together an innovative proposal that has a variety of options for public sector participation in conjunction with significant private sector involvement, and all we ask is that everyone review the concepts with an open mind.”

He said the community stadium proposal should be considered a positive, not just for HRM and Nova Scotia but for the entire Atlantic region.

Dube, sitting in on a capital budget plan discussion at council Tuesday, said there are a number of funding options in the SSE plan. The one that seemed most reasonable for the municipality is a tax incremental financing (TIF) model, a public financing plan used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure and debt financing

“That’s not really an impact on the capital budget,” Dube said. “It’s not a direct hit on the capital budget.”

[paulwoods13]

Boy, how many more "plans to be revealed soon" stories can there possibly be?

[gilthethrill]

Boy, how many more "plans to be revealed soon" stories can there possibly be?

Those stories will be revealed soon Paul.

[Mightygoose]

Those stories will be revealed soon Paul.

Soon as in today

Details (some of them) of stadium released.

https://www.halifaxtoday.ca/local-ne...leased-1714739

Phase 1. Cost under 94 million plus 10 million in land acquisition costs

12K permanent seats on one side. 9K semi-permanent on the other. About 1575 endzone seats plus about 2K standing room 'party zone'

The SSE proposal assumes that some or all the funds for the municipality’s financial support would be generated from a tax incremental financing (TIF) mode

[jerrym]

The $3-4 million a year in tax support mentioned in the article in the previous post is a way of once again trying to get the taxpayer fund the stadium in a relatively poor province. I am still highly skeptical of this going forward. Halifax is not Ottawa or Edmonton economically.

According to the SSE proposal, some or all the funds needed to build the stadium, estimated to cost between $100 million and $110 million, would be generated from a tax incremental financing (TIF) model.

An economics professor at Concordia University in Montreal, Moshe Lander, explains that the idea of the model is to basically get public funding. ...

“It’s a model that a lot of sports franchises do [where public funding is given from] a portion of any property tax that’s generated by the surrounding development that comes after the stadium is built,” Lander explained. “So you build a stadium in Shannon Park. Next thing you know there’s all kinds of houses, restaurants and stuff that get built.”

Currently, there are no houses or restaurants in Shannon Park, but SSE sees the potential for a commercial district being created once the stadium gets built. Lander says in the last five to seven years, this same business model has been used to great effect in Ottawa and Edmonton.

“Sports owners like SSE, what they figured out is why don’t they build residences and commercial properties themselves? So that way when they as the residential and commercial owners pay property tax they’re effectively paying a portion of it to themselves,” Lander said.

https://globalnews.ca/news/5954134/c...lifax-stadium/

[bannedforlife]

Details of the CFL stadium proposal in Halifax
3Down Staff 3downnation September 26, 2019

The details of the CFL stadium proposal in Halifax have been made public.

Halifax council voted unanimously to move ahead with a staff report on the proposed stadium plans, which have been submitted to the municipality. Shannon Park was the chosen location to build a stadium with 12,000 permanent seats expandable to 24,000 for CFL games on a 38-hectare area.

According to the proposal, phase one of the design would cost just under $94 million. There would be an extra $10 million for the cost of the land. The mobilization date is October 19 with completion of the project set for June 1, 2022.

Halifax regional municipality chief administrative officer Jacques Dube released a statement along with the specifics of the proposed facility:

SSE forwarded the latest version of its proposal on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019, following some initial questions and requests for clarification by municipal staff.

In the interest of transparency, the municipality sought approval from the proponent, SSE, to release the proposal publicly. SSE has consented to public disclosure of the proposal – with the exception of five appendices (A, G, H, I and O) containing information that is the property of a third party.

SSE is currently working with the third party to review and redact information, as necessary, prior to releasing these documents publicly. Once any required redaction has been completed, and approval has been granted, we will be publicly disclosing the remaining documents.

From the Halifax CAO release:

The Schooner Sports and Entertainment proposal assumes that some or all the funds for the municipality’s financial support would be generated from a tax incremental financing (TIF) model.

Five funding options are outlined in the SSE proposal regarding the manner (timing, mechanism, etc.) in which the municipality may consider using the funds generated from the TIF to contribute to the stadium.

Option #1: Maximum Financial Contribution of $2M Per Year Over the Term of the Loan with TIF Revenue Going Directly to SSE
Option #2: Upfront Cash Payment
Option #3: Smaller Upfront Cash Payment with Committed Cash Payments over the Term of the Loan
Option #4: Loan Guarantee
Option #5: Sliding Scale of Committed Cash Payments

CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie has said the possibility of an Atlantic Schooners hinges on a stadium deal. The league and SSE are one step closer to making the dream a reality.

[bannedforlife]

SCHEDULE C Community Stadium – Phase 1 Design and Capital Cost (Halifax)

[bannedforlife]

Boy, how many more "plans to be revealed soon" stories can there possibly be?

You must be fun at parties