Report claims Lansdowne costs will skyrocket

The group Friends of Lansdowne released an independent assessment of the proposed Lansdowne Park redevelopment on Monday and the report says the cost to taxpayers could be an extra $100 to $200 million.

The lobby group hired the Toronto firm Rosen and Associates to examine the city's financial projections.The company's websiteclaims that it is"Canada's premier independent firm specializing in forensic and investigative accounting."

The report says the huge project could result in a deficit of between $100 and $200 million.

The city says its plan to redevelop the area, along with a group of private developers, is priced at $175 million.

The city would borrow most of the money but taxes from the new football stadium and commercial outlets at the park would make its participation revenue neutral.

But the analysis prepared by Rosen and Associates says the city is overstating the probable financial benefit.

Ian Lee, spokesperson for Friends of Lansdowne, says the report "deconstructs" the city's case.

"They may go forward with this on brute force because they have control of the votes. But it won't be on its merits. What [the report] shows is that this is going to cost over $200 million to taxpayers," said Lee.

The group says Rosen and Associates represents the gold standard in forensic auditing in Canada. But some city councillors see it differently. They say the report is simply an opinion that has been bought and paid for.

Coun. Rich Chiarelli wasn't impressed.

"I pretty much laugh it off," said Chiarelli. "[Friends of Lansdowne] had to go outside Ottawa to find someone to say that. Look, the fact is it's tax neutral to taxpayers there are going to be costs but there is a revenue stream that matches those costs."

And Coun. Rainier Bloess said "there's been an on-going campaign to discredit what's going on [in the Lansdowne Park redevelopment] that seems to ignore the reality. The reality is we have a site in decay that we need to do something on."

The city and its partners hope to begin construction later this year. But David Chernushenko, the councillor for the Glebe, says the Rosen report is " alarming."

"I would hope that returning councillors and new ones would want to know more about the economics and say, 'Whoa, let's understand this fully and possibly re-consider.'"

Achallenge to the city plan by Friends of Lansdowne goes to court in April.