# Former Ont. army base sold for $27.2M



## GAP (25 May 2011)

Former Ont. army base sold for $27.2M
By Kelly Roche, QMI Agency
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2011/05/24/18187386.html

OTTAWA — The former CFB Rockcliffe site has been sold to the Canada Lands Company for $27.2 million, QMI Agency has learned.

"We're the land owner and developer," said CLC vice-president Gordon McIvor.

Redevelopment of the lucrative real estate in north Ottawa is back on the table after being tied up in a land claim with the Algonquins of Ontario (AOO) since 2007.

"That was resolved," said McIvor.

The CLC and the AOO have entered into a participation agreement.

"We want them to be able to, if they want, develop a piece of the property following the guidelines that have been approved by the city and by Canada Lands," said CLC president and CEO Mark Laroche.

The deal between the land company and natives is worth $10 million.

The Department of National Defence no longer runs the site.

"This is the most significant and important property that we've purchased in the last 10 years," McIvor said.

And it took about 10 years to obtain the 310-acre land, which was transferred on March 28.

Prior to that, DND had been maintaining the former airforce base.

In the last four years, the federal government has shelled out more than $5 million -- footed by taxpayers -- for the site, which once housed almost 500 military families.

CFB Rockcliffe officially closed July 31, 2009.

Since then, security costs in the 2009-10 fiscal year totalled $92,024.66.

The amount spent on maintenance has decreased significantly from 2008-09, when $2.1 million was doled out. In 2007-08, the price tag to maintain the site was $2.7 million. The year before that it cost $3.3 million.

The redevelopment could be a great thing for the city, said Ottawa-Vanier MP Mauril Belanger.

"It can be, if done right."

End of Article


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## jollyjacktar (25 May 2011)

At least it sold for more money than it would have in the past.  We have had a history of selling for pennies, such as Jericho Beach in Vancouver.  If it had of gone for the fair market value it would have been a fair chunk of change.  Was this a fair price for Rockcliffe?


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## jwtg (25 May 2011)

jollyjacktar said:
			
		

> At least it sold for more money than it would have in the past.  We have had a history of selling for pennies, such as Jericho Beach in Vancouver.  If it had of gone for the fair market value it would have been a fair chunk of change.  Was this a fair price for Rockcliffe?



I don't know much about land value, but CFB Rockcliffe is about a stone's throw away from the most posh area in Ottawa.  There are rumours about development plans for the site- what I'm hearing the most is (very) upscale homes.  I'd be willing to bet it won't look like it was a fair price a couple of years from now, but that's the nature of the beast...

EDIT: Google tells me there are all KINDS of rumours.  I guess they canned that self-sustaining environment-friendly development idea though?  I don't even have the faintest idea anymore what's going on down there.


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## Blackadder1916 (25 May 2011)

GAP said:
			
		

> Former Ont. *army base* sold for $27.2M
> By Kelly Roche, QMI Agency
> http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2011/05/24/18187386.html
> 
> ...



Army base?  There are probably airmen turning in their graves, including Wing Commander (ret'd) William Barker who took off on his last flight  from RCAF Station Rockcliffe before crashing into the nearby Ottawa River.  [/rant about ill-prepared journalists off]

While the site of the former CFB Ottawa (N) is no longer in DND hands or a drain on its funds, it is not that far removed from the ownership of the Canadian people government.



> What CLC Does
> 
> *Canada Lands Company (CLC) is an arm’s length, self-financing federal Crown corporation*. CLC's parent company and sole shareholder, CLCL, reports to the Parliament of Canada through the Government Leader in the House of Commons.
> 
> ...


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## observor 69 (25 May 2011)

Blackadder1916 said:
			
		

> Army base?  There are probably airmen turning in their graves, including Wing Commander (ret'd) William Barker who took off on his last flight  from RCAF Station Rockcliffe before crashing into the nearby Ottawa River.  [/rant about ill-prepared journalists off]
> 
> While the site of the former CFB Ottawa (N) is no longer in DND hands or a drain on its funds, it is not that far removed from the ownership of the Canadian people government.



Army base? Harrumph !! Is nothing sacred !  :'(

RCAF Station Rockcliffe In 1922 the civilian components of the Air Board began to consolidate into the Canadian Air Force, which became part of the newly-established Department of National Defence the following year and was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in 1924. Thus the facility gained the second-longest association with the nation's air defence after RCAF Station Borden. After a few name changes, the facility took the name RCAF Station Ottawa in 1936. In 1940, this name would change again to RCAF Station Rockcliffe.

On March 12, 1930, Canadian World War I flying ace William George Barker crashed into the Ottawa River and died during an aerial demonstration over the field. In July 1931, Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh visited the airport during their northern surveying tour.

The airfield's runways were paved in 1939 in preparation for operations during World War II. RCAF Station Rockliffe participated in the British Commonwealth Air Training Program and — as the nearest airport to the centre of the capital — was involved in many other kinds of testing, training, and transport operations, including the transport of mail to Europe using B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators. Immediately after the war, in September 1945, RCAF Station Rockcliffe was the site of the first jet aircraft demonstration in Canada.

In 1957, the military's main flight testing and development operations moved to RCAF Station Uplands (now located at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport). In 1964 the RCAF ceased flying operations at the base however it saw continued use as an administrative and logistics base. The airfield passed back into civilian control and the Rockcliffe Flying Club began using the field.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFB_Rockcliffe


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## AJFitzpatrick (26 May 2011)

Well it was originally a rifle range

From "A History of the Rockcliffe Airport Site: Home of the National Aviation Museum, Ottawa, Canada" Steven R. Payne, 1999

" In 1898, the peaceful setting was disturbed by the popping of gunshots after the Dominion Government established the Rockcliffe
Rifle Range to train militiamen. By the turn of the century the area was firmly associated with guns and horses. "

It was also used as a training area

"When first acquired, this low-lying area was covered with a swampy forest of cedars and silver maple. Later, it was considered
unsatisfactory as a training site, although military training continued on the site throughout the First World War. During the war, units were inspected at the Rockcliffe camp, including the 1st Motor Machine Gun Brigade. After the war, the grounds were used less frequently by the Army"

So it _was_ as much Army as it _was_ Air Force.


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## observor 69 (26 May 2011)

AJFitzpatrick said:
			
		

> Well it was originally a rifle range
> 
> From "A History of the Rockcliffe Airport Site: Home of the National Aviation Museum, Ottawa, Canada" Steven R. Payne, 1999
> 
> ...



Prior to 1922, which is even before my time.


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