Ottawa's city manager says corporate naming rights for the stadium and retail area of Lansdowne Park are worth $50 million, but critics say the projected value is overly optimistic.

The $50-million valuation is based on a 30-year contract and was released as part of an update provided in advance of next week's Finance and Economic Development Committee meeting, where city staff will submit its final report on Lansdowne's redevelopment.

Just six months ago a consultant hired by the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group pegged the value of naming rights at Lansdowne Park at $15.7 million.

City manager Kent Kirkpatrick said while the $50 million figure sounds like a big number, it's a reasonable estimate given the length of the contract.

He also said earlier estimates were based on just the sports venues, while the naming rights have now been expanded to include the mixed-use retail area, though not public areas such as the urban park.

Estimate raises questions

Yet the estimate would put mid-sized Ottawa in the same league as the country's biggest sports markets, including Vancouver, where a $35-million-dollar naming bid by Telus recently fell through.

Ian Lee, a professor at Sprott's School of Business and a long-time critic of the city's public private partnership with OSEG to renovate Lansdowne, said the estimate is high.

"We're not Vancouver, and Vancouver hasn't achieved that yet, so I think they're probably being optimistic," said Lee.

As another comparison, in 2006 Scotiabank agreed to pay the Ottawa Senators $20 million for 15 years for the naming rights to their stadium.

Capital ward councillor David Chernushenko notes the increase in projected naming rights revenue is, almost to the dollar, the same as the projected drop in retail revenue.

"It certainly makes you suspicious when numbers match exactly, right? How convenient, exactly the same amount! So I hope it is more than just pure optimism," said Chernushenko.

FEDCO meeting to discuss full report

City staff are recommending council give final approvals to the deal in the coming weeks.

The overall cost of the project has increased by $12 million, mainly because of the underground parking garage ($5.6 million) and the stadium ($3.3 million).

As far as retail space is concerned, there are still no new tenants to announce. Twenty-five per cent of the available space has been leased with signed agreements. Including leases on the verge of being signed, city staff said the figure goes up to 73 per cent.

Major redevelopment construction elements should be completed on schedule in the summer of 2014, with all the work finished by 2015, the report said.