Before the city grants Panoramic Properties a $1.7-million grant to redevelop the Scotia Tower building in Downtown Sudbury, they must first demolish the long-vacant hospital on Paris Street.
At least, according to an amendment Mayor Paul Lefebvre plans on presenting during the Oct. 16 finance and administration committee meeting of city council.
Panoramic Properties owns both buildings.
“I think (this motion is) what the people of Sudbury expect me to do,” Lefebvre told Sudbury.com on Tuesday, adding that it stems from ongoing public feedback regarding the long-vacant hospital building which Panoramic Properties has owned since 2010.
There’s also the inevitable question around the poor optics of the city subsidizing another Panoramic Properties project while the old hospital building remains untouched, Lefebvre said.
Although the mayor clarified that there’s nothing in his conversations with Panoramic Properties which leads him to believe they will not proceed with their proposed redevelopment of the old hospital building, “I need to represent the people of Sudbury, and it’s by putting these measures in place I think would give us the outcomes we all hope that we will see.”
That said, Panoramic Properties’ plans for the old hospital site, which includes a 530-unit residential development, require the existing structures to be torn down anyway.
“It should be irrelevant,” Lefebvre said of his amendment, reiterating that although he’s confident Panoramic Properties will proceed with both projects, he will “take nothing for granted.”
Lefebvre also spoke to his proposed amendment in a media release issued by the city on Monday evening, which he defended as reflecting “our city’s dedication to ensuring progress on all fronts to growing our housing supply and reinvigorating our downtown.”
After purchasing the old hospital property in 2010, Panoramic Properties’ initial plan to develop up to 210 luxury condominiums at the site stalled after several years, and a large rainbow-coloured mural was painted over the building’s west side in 2019.
The long-vacant building has become a common point of derision. During last year’s series of town hall-style meetings which Lefebvre hosted in various wards throughout the city, the old hospital building’s vacant status came up numerous times. During a meeting in Ward 1 in May 2023, Lefebvre pledged, “In my term, something will happen.”
Lefebvre told Sudbury.com on Tuesday that he’s still asked about the old hospital building on a regular basis.
Forcing Panoramic Properties to do something about the long-vacant building has not been in the cards due to a current legal framework which gives the city limited ability to enforce such things. Although city council is in the process of adding teeth to its property standards bylaw, there’s still no penalty for a building that’s simply vacant.
A Panoramic Properties representative told city council in April that they would break ground on their latest proposal for the old hospital site, a 530-unit residential development, within five years.
Meanwhile, the company purchased the 86,225-square-foot Scotia Tower building at 30 Cedar St. in Downtown Sudbury, which was listed for sale last year at $6.75-million.
In a Strategic Core Areas Community Improvement Plan application tabled for the Oct. 16 finance and administration committee meeting of city council, Panoramic Properties is requesting $1,717,500 from the city to help create 83 residential units within the building. The first and part of the second floor would continue to accommodate Scotiabank’s operations.
Called Cedar Apartments, the project’s total estimated cost is $19.8 million.
In addition to the requirement that Panoramic Properties demolish the old hospital building prior to receiving the $1.7 million they have requested, Lefebvre’s amendment also stipulates that the developer must complete the Scotia Tower project in full and receive an occupancy permit prior to receiving the grant.
Despite the conditions he is proposing, Lefebvre said that it’s important the project proceeds.
“A housing project of this magnitude has not been seen in our downtown in decades,” he said, adding that it lines up with the city’s well-established need for housing.
“At the same time, by refurbishing an existing building in an area already serviced with infrastructure, transit, and access to existing amenities, the project aligns with council’s overall Housing Supply Strategy and the Downtown Master Plan.”
The Oct. 16 planning committee of city council is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. It can be viewed in-person at Tom Davies Square or livestreamed by clicking here.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
