A glass structure cutting eight storeys into downtown Sudbury’s skyline is up for sale, with the Scotia Tower at 30 Cedar St. listed at $6.75 million.
The property was posted for sale last year at $9.9 million, before Raymond Chabot Inc. took it over from the insolvent 30 Cedar Holdings Inc. on Nov. 24, 2022.
A 30 Cedar Holdings Inc. creditor’s list includes a total declared amount owed to all creditors of $8.28 million, including $152,418 to the City of Greater Sudbury tax department.
Raymond Chabot Inc. took possession and control of the property on Nov. 24, 2022, as per an agreement the firm continue to manage the property and its current tenants, obtain at least two proposals from independent realtors and list the property for sale.
Last week, Royal LePage North Heritage Realty listed the property, and salesperson Cassandra Beach told Sudbury.com the building is approximately 80-per-cent vacant.
Aside from some heat pumps that need repair, she said the building, built in 1980, has “been fairly well maintained.”
In a promotional video, the building is described as “an icon in the city’s skyline,” which at nearly 90,000 square feet of gross leasable space is one of the largest office buildings in the area.
Although configured for office and retail use, Beach said it’s an ideal candidate for a multi-residential conversion.
“C6 Zoning allows for a wide range of uses including retail, office, medical, residential and more,” the building's real estate listing notes, indicating it might also be eligible for various financial incentives through the city’s Strategic Core Areas Community Improvement Plan.
With the city currently looking for potential alternative locations/options for the Junction East Cultural Hub library/art gallery project, she said “that could be a potential as well,” particularly if Scotiabank vacated the main floor.
Scotiabank is the building’s anchor tenant, with related financial institutions currently leasing 17,141 square feet of space between floors one, two, four and eight.
The property includes a 0.5-acre parking lot with 65 parking stalls and an underground parking garage with 21 spaces.
Last year, the Scotia Tower building was listed by Mallette-Goring, which maintains a few other notable downtown listings, including 2 Lisgar St. (National Bank) at $1.59 million, 93 Cedar St. (old Bell Telephone Company building, which now has Makami Engineering) at $3.9 million and 43 Elm St. (TD Square) at $6.9 million.
City administrators have yet to determine whether 30 Cedar St. or another downtown building might be viable for a new library/art gallery development.
“While we are actively working to implement council's latest direction regarding Junction East, we are in the very early stages of this work,” a city spokesperson said. “We will provide regular updates to council as work proceeds in anticipation of a report by the end of the second quarter (June).”
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
