A potentially transformative project in Hamilton, Ont. reached a milestone May 16 as developers and city officials held a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the Hamilton arena project. Oak View Group (OVG), the largest developer of sports and live entertainment venues in the world, is spearheading a $280-million renovation of FirstOntario Centre along with Live Nation Canada and the Hamilton Urban Precinct Entertainment Group (HUPEG).
World class city
Stadium mogul Tim Leiweke, CEO of OVG, said with the renovation of the arena into a major entertainment destination, Hamilton would be joining other cities where OVG has built successful arenas, including Manchester, Coachella Valley, Seattle, Boston, New York and Baltimore – “world class cities, and now the city of Hamilton gets to join our family.”
The kickoff of the stadium project will be followed by renovations to the nearby convention centre, the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the Hamilton concert hall.
HUPEG, which has Carmens Group, LIUNA and Fengate among its members, is leading an area redevelopment initiative for what is called The Commons, with plans for three residential sites, a hotel, restaurants and other new meeting and event spaces.
The arena renovation will include a new facade, premium seating, enhanced acoustics, improved sightlines, upgraded concourses, new clubs and suites and artist lounges. Completion of the 18,000-seat facility is expected in the fall of 2025. The construction manager is EllisDon and designer is Brisbin Brook Beynon Architects.
Leiweke said additional equity partners would be announced in the coming months.
“We have partners in this vision and partners in this project,” he said, addressing Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath. “Each and every one of them did it because of their belief in your city, mayor, because of their belief in this vision. And what will now happen is, we spur on additional dreams, additional imagination and additional commitments towards reforming and creating a centre city that is the buzz of Canada.”
Leiweke also had news to offer on financing for the project.
“We will soon announce the building has been completely financed by one of the largest banks in the world,” he said. “For the first time ever this institution came in and took the whole thing.
“So for all of those that say, ‘well, wait a minute, do they have the money? Are they really going to do it? Can they complete it? Will it go bankrupt halfway
through?’ One hundred per cent of the roughly $300 million that will be spent on renovation is in the bank and ready to go.”
HUPEG CEO PJ Mercanti said HUDEG is still a few months away from announcing investors.
“HUPEG is also taking a lead in ensuring that the broader entertainment district is a focus area for the city and we will be very intentional about the other developments around this arena,” said Mercanti.
Long time coming
As for the groundbreaking, Mercanti said, “I am very excited. This is a significant weight lifted. This is the next page in the chapter of the city of Hamilton.
“This has been a long time coming. It’s been worth the wait.”
The partners have agreed to finance the running of the arena for a period of 49 years, which Horwath said saves the city $155 million in operating funds.
Horwath noted the city has launched a new housing secretariat with the intention of developing more affordable housing and said the groundbreaking would help kickstart more development in the neighbourhood including housing.
“The fact that OVG announced today that they have a single finance partner and the money’s literally in the bank, that is exciting, because that really creates something in terms of the go-forward,” she said.
Asked if high interest rates might continue to cause hesitation among housing developers, Howarth said, “All of us would agree that the economy is something that we can’t peg right now. It’s very volatile. It’s fluctuating and we don’t know where it’s going to land.
“So notwithstanding those economic factors, we know this facility is going to move forward, but we also know that this kind of investment brings investment from others as well.”
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Very good news for city of Hamilton. I hope it brings the city back to life.