Sudbury: two stalled condo projects
Two condo conversion projects in Sudbury appear to be stalled and
perhaps abandoned. One was the old hospital and the other was a
Northern Brewery facility.
Developer mum as St. Joe’s hospital condo project appears stalled
Sudbury.com
by: Darren MacDonald
11 August 2017
The luxury condominium redevelopment taking place at the former St.
Joseph's Hospital on Paris Street appears stalled, and repeated efforts
by Sudbury.com to talk with the people behind the project have been
unsuccessful.
The estimated $80-million plan received approval from the city in late
2012, after a complicated approvals process that included several
raucous public meetings.
Owned by Panoramic Properties, which has other holdings in the city,
the main face of the proposal was architect Michael Allen, who
represented Panoramic at city council.
To overcome initial opposition, Allen re-jigged his plans, moving more
parking underground and boosting the landscaping around the condos.
With the changes, the total amount of property set aside for
landscaping increased to 47 per cent of the 4.5-acre property, compared
with 24.3 per cent in the original proposal.
Plans for landscaping include a new bike path and walkway, which would
link up with existing paths in Bell Park. The northern area of the
property near Facer Street would get new trees, a mix of pine, oak,
spruce, maple and birch.
A new structure on the south wing of the former hospital will create a
62-foot space between the old building and the new one. That will allow
a view of Ramsey Lake that was blocked by the old hospital, without
creating new visual obstructions.
Higher end condos in the 190-unit project were expected to sell for as much as $500,000 each.
But the ambitious plans have since stalled, with the softening of the
housing market in Sudbury in recent years, and as other builders move
ahead with less costly condo plans.
The former hospital now looks abandoned.
Sudbury.com has been trying to get an update on the project since May
of this year. Allen has responded by email, most recently Aug. 4,
promising to arrange a time for an interview.
But that has yet to happen.
Repeated calls to Panoramic Properties have also led to promises they
would respond. This week, a Panoramic official asked for a list of
questions on the project, but no answers have been provided. The
official did confirm, however, that Panoramic has not put the building
up for sale.
City communications officer Shannon Dowling said Panoramic is not in
violation of any building regulations, and the city hasn't issued any
order regarding fencing or other issues on the site.
Panoramic purchased the building in 2010. While the city made an offer
to the Sisters of St. Joseph to buy the 4.5-acre property, the offer
was contingent on the sisters paying for the demolition of the hospital
site beforehand — estimated to cost millions — something the nuns said
they couldn’t afford.
Panoramic’s offer, said to be around $1.34 million, didn’t require demolition.
The $80 million redevelopment of the former St. Joseph's Health
Centre on Paris Street is on hold, the company behind the project
confirmed Friday.
News Release
12 August 2017
A news release from Panoramic Properties and its affiliated company,
2226553 Ontario Inc., said the company has spent considerable time and
resources in Sudbury in recent years, and needs to focus on other
projects for the time being.
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Sudbury developer aims to start building Brewer Lofts this year
CBC News
17 March 2015
The site of the old Northern Breweries building in Sudbury is getting ready for a major face lift.
A sales office for the new loft-condominium project called Brewer Lofts
is expected to open in the coming weeks and the developer hopes to sell
enough condos to enable construction to move ahead this year.
The old building no longer contains beer cases and fermenting tanks,
but developer Greg Oldenburg said he plans to refill the building’s
vast, empty rooms with dozens of living spaces.
“You can buy [a] big house, small house, lake house, valley house,
whatever, but there really isn’t a loft-condominium like this,” he said.
'Appeal' for something different
The lofts range in size from 600 to 2,500 square feet. The 1,000
square-foot lofts cost around $380,000 — about $100,000 above the
average home price in Sudbury.
Royal LePage sales representative Gwen Price said the price is typical for new condo developments in the city.
She said there’s a good chance the project will succeed.
“There will be always an appeal to people to have something different
from everyone else, to say ‘I live at this address,’” she said.
Price added there’s reason to believe the project will be successful because there aren’t any lofts on the market in Sudbury.
“I think it’s going to appeal to an upscale client, also young professionals,” she said.
“So it’s not just necessarily going to be the baby boom generation looking in there.”
Oldenburg said he’s sold 10 out of the 50 lofts, and added he needs to sell about 35 lofts to finance construction.
The Brewer Lofts
This proposed mixed-use condo conversion appears to me to be less
likely to proceed. The old Northern Brewery location is less desirable
than the old Sudbury Health Centre and the structure seems that it will
require far more work.
These photos were taken in August 2017, two years after the newspaper article about was published.
The sales sign is still up.
The old buildings look pretty rough.
The back of the old buildings look worse.
Keep in mind
You can buy a detached house in Sudbury for as little as $120,000 and a
decent one for $190,000. These condos start at about $300,000.
As we all know, condo living is not worry-free living. If you don't
want to shovel your snow, hire a local teenager to do it for you.
Cheaper than paying monthly condo fees.
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