The Ottawa Senators are only serious about putting a new arena in the LeBreton Flats area, says the National Hockey League club’s president and CEO.

Cyril Leeder made the comments Tuesday during a panel discussion at the City Building Summt, the Ottawa Business Journal reported. LeBreton Flats is a 29-hectare federally owned area innear downtown Ottawa.

A new arena is expected to spur surrounding commercial real estate investments, if it ever gets built.

The Sens have been contemplating a new home for years. One deal to develop a new arena in LeBreton Flats was scuttled and negotiations on other potential agreements stalled as late former owner Eugene Melnyk’s health declined and Michael Andlauer acquired majority ownership.

Leeder indicated that the team has considered other locations but is only focusing on LeBreton Flats at this time.

The area is managed by the National Capital Commission, which co-ordinates the management and development of federal Crown lands in the Ottawa region. In 2022, the NCC and Senators signed a memorandum of understanding on a deal to bring an arena to LeBreton Flats.

The MOU, extended in January, is due to expire this fall. In interview with different media outlets in recent days, commission CEO Tobi Nussbaum has touted LeBreton Flats as the best possible site for a new arena.

He expressed confidence that a deal can be finalized by September 1.

But Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and others have suggested that other downtown sites should be considered. Sutcliffe recently floated the idea of considering some more central, surplus federal lands as potential arena sites.

The federal government plans to redevelop 50% of its underused office assets, including many Ottawa locations..