How the NCC evaluation of LeBreton Flats proposals took place

Documents released to CBC Newsunder access to information shed morelight on the way the bids to redevelop LeBreton Flats were evaluated, but the National Capital Commission held backthescores each bidreceived.

TheNCC'sevaluation process for the competition toredevelop21 hectares in downtown Ottawa was severelycriticized by the team that ranked secondin the hours before a gag order fell onMay 5.

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The day the consortium issued its rebuke, Devcore, Canderel, andDLS Group's Daniel Peritzsaid he was "shocked and astonished" that competitor RendezVous LeBreton Group ranked higher,because he saidthe NCC had clearly asked for public uses and limited residential development, and felt his group delivered better on that front.

DCDLS demanded to see the scorecard.

CBC also requested the scorecards for the two bids, but thoseevaluations were held back by the NCC, along withother meeting minutesthat would providemore specifics asto whatmadeRendezVousLeBretonGroup come out on top.

The NCC cited exemptions from access laws related to financial information, as well as to anyadvice,deliberations and negotiating positionsdeveloped for a government institution.

Evaluating 'two fierce competitors'

The documents provided moredetail aboutwhat the evaluators didleading up to the big announcement in April, even if the substance of those talks wasn't disclosed.

The evaluation team of five was chairedby Stephen Willis, the NCC executive who is about to leave the crown corporation for the private sector, as well as NCC CEO Mark Kristmanson, NCC director of real estate transactions and developmentMarco Zanetti, architect Jack Diamond, and real estate consultantMark Conroy.

Theywere given the proposals in early January to evaluate on their own for several weeks, andthen met as a committee over four days in mid-February at the Canadian War Museum.

The ground rules were laid out: evaluate the bids in their own right anddon't compare them, maintainstrict confidentialityand don't speak of the process even to family, and evaluate the bids against the criteria laid out in the request for proposals.

At that first meeting, the NCC's YannickBouchard, who acted as secretary, explainedtheir task:

"You have in front of you two fierce competitors that have invested a lot of time, efforts,and money to get their proposal out. Always keep in mind in discussions that one willlose, and that we'll have to explain to that group the reasons why."

According to the meeting minutes, they were then given20 minutes to read the report summing up public feedback on the LeBreton bids, before startingtheir meetings.

After a random draw, one day was spent on the RendezVous LeBreton proposal with its arena and abilities centre, the second day on the DCDLS bid with itsmultiple attractions, the third day was to look at remaining issues, and a fourth day was for signing off on evaluation grids.

Twenty subject matter experts weighed in with reports that could help the committee on complicated issues such as transportation at LeBreton Flats and sustainability issues.

One of the Devcore, Canderel and DLS Group's criticisms related to whether the light rail tracks at LeBreton could indeed be covered over, a design element theNCC found appealing inRendezVous LeBreton's proposal.

Those expert reports were also withheld by the NCC.

Board askedquestions before public unveiling

When the NCC's Stephen Willisfinally announced the winning bid on April 28,hementioned that the board had come to Ottawa early, and toured LeBreton Flats two days earlier.

• BLOG RECAP|LeBreton Flats selection committee presents winner to NCC Board

Questions from NCC board members at that public, high-profilemeetingwere few, but minutes show that atthe closed-doortechnical briefing two days earlier, the boardasked questions and made comments about "financial information" and "viability and feasibility of the proposals."

June 28 will bethe first NCC board meeting since the one at which the LeBretonevaluation was revealed.

It's stillnot clear whether RendezVous LeBreton and the NCC have in fact begun negotiating a landmarkdeal for the redevelopment of LeBreton Flats, butNCCCEO Kristmansonis expected to give a brief update on that at the beginning of Tuesday's meeting.