By Perry Lefko, Sportsnet.ca

The Commissioner of the Canadian Football League won't put a timeline on the possibility of a franchise coming back to Ottawa, but is cautiously optimistic the good old gridiron game will return.

Following the news an Ottawa group has been actively working with the City of Ottawa on possibily redeveloping Lansdowne Park, on which Frank Clair Stadium stands, and that the group has talked with the CFL about an expansion franchise, Mark Cohon told Sportsnet.ca on Wednesday he's buoyant but realistic.

"If a stadium comes down, do you rebuild it? Do you wait till everything is done? Do you put up some temporary stands? I think the expectation for the fan is this is a potential good step forward for the League, but you're not going to see football back there in 12 months or anything like that," he said.

When asked if he thought the plan would work and football would return to the nation's capital, Cohon said: "That's a tough one. It's too preliminary in our discussions to know whether it will happen. It looks more positive than anything in the past."

Cohon would not comment on the names of the individuals who are part of the latest group to eye a CFL franchise in Ottawa. The Ottawa Sun is reporting three high-profile Ottawa businessmen are part of this group. They include Roger Greenberg, chairman and CEO of Minto Developments: John Ruddy, the president of Trinity Development Group; and William Shenkman, chairman of Shenkman Corp., another large, Ottawa-based property development company.

The group wants to redevelop Lansdowne Park and create residential development to connect the 18-hectare property with the Rideau Canal. The Sun reported the redevelopment could generate as much as $12 million a year in property tax revenue for the city.

Greenberg told the Sun he wouldn't comment on any possible opportunities that he or his company might be involved with for Lansdowne Park.

Cohon would not confirm the identity of the individual with a sports background whom the team has lined up to run the franchise. It's believed the individual is Jeff Hunt, the owner/operator of the Ottawa 67s. His name has been linked to previous groups interested in a CFL franchise in Ottawa.

Cohon candidly admitted some of the owners of CFL teams brought forward to him the individuals in this Ottawa group, but that he knew of them.

"This is a very serious group and we're taking them seriously," Cohon said.

Greenberg's name had been mentioned in previous attempts to provide ownership for an Ottawa franchise, including after the 1996 season when the ownership at the time lost interest in maintaining operations. The franchise collapsed and didn't return until 2002. But it collapsed again after the 2005 season.

Cohon said the CFL has to work with the group, so in turn it can go to the City of Ottawa with a vision of what it wants to do and get everybody on board.

Cohon said when he heard of the situation with Frank Clair Stadium and the plans to tear down the lower deck of the southside stands because it has been condemned for safety reasons, he reached out to Ottawa mayor Larry O'Brien to inform him of the ownership group and how it could expedite plans for the CFL and the city.

"What this really does when you think about it is we have. to make a decision and what's the vision the city wants for that new area," Cohon said. "With the proper people it will help the entire city.

"What a great package to the people of Ottawa, that's what I think is exciting about it, and the CFL could be one part of that."

It normally takes anywhere from a year to 18 months to build a new stadium, but Cohon didn't want to put any false expectations on that. He has not seen any development reports.

"I think we really have to be cautious here on when you would bring football back there based upon the overall development," he said. "You just don't want to throw up some temporary stands and say, 'Okay, football's back.' I think you want to do this in conjunction with the overall vision for the project."

It is expected the CFL would see an expansion fee, but that number could be predicated on when the franchise is up and running and the overall health and welfare of the League. The CFL is about to enter a new five-year TV contract next season, so any franchise admitted in that time frame would siphen away revenue by splitting the pie nine ways instead of eight. There had been suggestions that previous prospective groups would have to pay a $5 million franchise fee starting next season.