Ontario Construction News staff writer
Panoramic Properties will receive a $1.7 million grant from the City of Sudbury to assist with a new mixed-use development, tied to the demolition of a long-vacant hospital that the company has owned since 2010.
“It’s not usual that we do this,” Mayor Paul Lefebre said after introducing a motion at the finance committee on Wednesday. “It’s actually rare. Whatever incentives we put in now … hopefully that will get the ball rolling for more development down the road.
“We want development to happen. We encourage development, but at the same time we want to make sure that we don’t take anything for granted.”
The grant will support the company’s $19.8 million renovation project to turn the downtown Scotia Tower into 83 new residential units while maintaining the first and part of the second floor as the existing financial institution.
Construction is set to begin in the fall and to be completed by the end of 2025.
Work will include significant improvements to the façades of the building. The total cost of the project is estimated to be $19.8 million.
Three councillors voted against providing the grant including Counc. Mike Parent who pointed out that the grant would be equivalent to the property taxes paid by more than 500 homeowners.
“If you talk to those property owners and say this money you are going to pay this year is not going to go toward a new pool, making our roads better or investing other ways in our community; it’s going to go toward a wealthy developer’s ambition of a nice 83-apartment building that he’s going to renovate for 83 of our community’s wealthier members, not affordable housing.
“I really struggle to think that 500 property owners would say that’s where I want my property taxes to go.”
Instead, he suggested council focus on the city’s current “massive” infrastructure gap which he said is heading toward $170 million.
Panoramic Properties also plans to develop a larger 530-unit residential comp”lex at the old hospital site, which Lefebvre believes will offset any potential decrease in tax revenue from the Scotia Tower redevelopment.
