City of Ottawa – News Release

Ottawa – The Honourable Bob Chiarelli, Ontario Minister of Infrastructure and MPP for Ottawa West-Nepean with Mayor Jim Watson, Yasir Naqvi, MPP for Ottawa Centre and Invest Ottawa Co-Chair Jeff Westeinde, today announced that the City of Ottawa will receive $15 million from the Province of Ontario to establish an “innovation complex” at the Bayview Yards site near Mechanicsville.

The proposed development around this transit node will include a business incubation and acceleration space, with complementary governmental, private sector and non-profit agency use, including Invest Ottawa, the City’s primary partner in economic development with a focus on entrepreneurial development, foreign direct investment, and business retention and expansion.

“On behalf of Premier Dalton McGuinty, I am proud to announce this significant provincial investment into a high-tech job-generation facility,” said Minister Bob Chiarelli. “Leaders at Invest Ottawa and the City have come up with dynamic plans that builds on the National Capital Region’s reputation as a hub for innovation.”

Plans for portions of the 6.73-hectare parcel of City-owned land, described as the Bayview Yards, including the Bayview City Works Building #4, will include a mix of residential, recreational and commercial use including an innovation complex and a potential multi-purpose studio.

“The creation of an innovation complex at the site, incorporated into a mix of residential and commercial uses, will be an economic driver of great benefit to local communities and to the entire city,” said Mayor Watson. “The funding from the province, along with considerable assistance and in-kind contributions from the City, is a testament to what working together can accomplish.”

The best location for the innovation complex and proposed complementary uses of the remainder of the site will be determined by a municipal development corporation overseeing the entire development site within the context of the Council-approved Community Design Plan (CDP), anticipated in mid-2013. The municipal development corporation created for this purpose would have a small board of directors with representation from the City, funders, and experts from the private sector.

The goal is to open the innovation complex facility in time to move Invest Ottawa there by the end of its current lease term at 80 Aberdeen Street.

“I am excited that this investment will not only create jobs and foster innovation but support the much needed revitalization of the Bayview Yards in my community of Ottawa Centre,” said Yasir Naqvi, MPP for Ottawa Centre.

The Province’s $15-million contribution to the Bayview Yards Redevelopment Project will be disbursed according to recommendations brought back to City Council following approval of the Bayview CDP.

The City’s in-kind contributions will include:

• Donating 1.415-hectares of the 6.73-hectare Bayview Yards to the innovation complex
• Bringing a Community Improvement Plan (CIP) By-Law proposal to Council to apply municipal property tax rebates
• Rebating 50 percent of eligible site remediation costs, in accordance with the Ottawa Brownfields Redevelopment Community Improvement Plan framework
• Declaring the initiative a Capital Investment Track project (priority and facilitation assistance)
• Providing secretariat support to the municipal development corporation through the City’s Economic Development and Innovation Department and the City’s Real Estate Partnership and Development Office

Some environmental remediation will be required at Bayview Yards in order to proceed with development. On June 23, 2010, City Council approved a capital budget adjustment to provide funding of $1.229 million to stabilize the structure of the existing Bayview Garage and conduct an environmental cleanup of the building. Environmental remediation costs will be determined for the remainder of the 6.73-hectare site as part of due diligence for the project.

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For more information:

Office of MPP Bob Chiarelli
Phil Donelson
416-327-9236

Media contact
613-580-2450

Public inquiries:
ottawa.ca
3-1-1

Invest Ottawa
Blair Patacairk
613-889-8192