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The business group that wants to bring the Canadian Football League to Halifax is steadily moving the ball downfield but is still a long way from a celebratory endzone dance.

If there is to be a touchdown dance, it’s likely to occur at Shannon Park, a 35-hectare former National Defence site located in the north end of Dartmouth on the eastern shore of Halifax harbour. That site has been identified by the Maritime Football Limited Partnership as the preferred location for a multi-purpose stadium.

“I’m obviously very happy with the site that we did focus on,” said Anthony LeBlanc, one of three principals in Maritime Football Ltd., the corporate entity that hopes to establish a 10th league team in Nova Scotia.

“We are finally at the point where we feel that a deal can get done in short order if we all put our heads together.”

LeBlanc’s group is negotiating with Canada Lands, a federal Crown corporation that owns and manages surplus government properties, to purchase a six- to eight-hectare site due east of the Shannon Park school for a stadium that will include a parking structure and some associated uses. The Millbrook First Nation is acquiring about 3.6 hectares in the same former National Defence park.

On Tuesday, regional council will consider a staff report evolving from discussions with the franchise ownership group and the province to explore opportunities and risks related to establishing a CFL franchise and stadium in the city.

Cost and composition

“If it can come in at a level ... equivalent to the amount of money we’d spend building a community stadium, which is something we talked about, and if we get a community-active agreement and we get the bigger facility, then it’s a win,” said Deputy Mayor Waye Mason.

The ownership group is fronted by LeBlanc and Gary Drummond, former co-owners of the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League, and Bruce Bowser, president of AMJ Campbell Van Lines. LeBlanc said the stadium, expected to cost between $170 million and $190 million to build, would seat 24,000 fans.

LeBlanc said the other sites that had been considered were Dartmouth Crossing and a location near the Kent store in Bayers Lake business park.

“These types of facilities, it’s important where you put them,” LeBlanc said.

LeBlanc said the stadium site would comprise less than a quarter of the former National Defence property, a location that includes the Millbrook site and a proposed redevelopment that features an urban square, seven hectares of green or public space and a recreation field.

He estimated that the 30-year debt financing for a stadium would amount to about $10 million annually and it will cost about $3 million to $4 million annually to operate the stadium.

“We will take that on,” he said of the operating costs. “It was very clear that neither level of government wanted to take that risk.”

LeBlanc said the ownership group will be able to absorb about 40 per cent of the entire $14 million needed annually to cover the debt and operating costs.

'We absolutely do need public involvement.'

“The model that we have discussed with HRM and with the province for over a year has always been a public-private partnership,” LeBlanc said. “We absolutely do need public involvement. Both levels of government have been very clear that they are not dipping into general funds. We are looking at new streams of revenue that would be created because of the stadium as well as some other streams that are being used in other jurisdictions that don’t have as much of an impact.”

The staff report to be delivered to council Tuesday talks about a tax incremental financing (TIF) model, a public financing plan that is used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure, and debt financing. A TIF district reallocates funds from property taxes to encourage investment within the district. Any incremental tax revenues collected as a result of increases in property values or new development go into a TIF fund, or stadium reserve, and can be used by the municipality for purposes within the TIF to promote development or provide capital financing.

HRM would need to collaborate with the province on potential new incremental revenue streams to provide equitable and sustainable revenue streams to contribute to the annual debt financing of the stadium, the staff report said. To date, two possible revenue streams have been indicated — a hotel marketing levy tax and a car rental tax. Both revenue streams would require legislative changes by the province.

The stadium development plan will complete the second phase of a four-part proposal for a conditional league franchise. LeBlanc said another six to nine months of work is required before shovels could be expected in the Shannon Park ground. Fielding a team by 2021 is still a realistic target, he said.

LeBlanc said the ownership group could launch a season-ticket drive before Christmas, depending on council’s leanings Tuesday.