The City of Greater Sudbury will purchase and demolish the Ledo Hotel building in downtown Sudbury, which has been vacant since 2020.
The motion coming out of the closed June 13 session of city council was later read out and approved by councillors in the open meeting.
It authorizes the “purchase and demolition” of 300 Elgin St. (the Ledo). It also authorizes the purchase of the associated parking lot known as 233 Shaughnessy St. and 308 Elgin St.
The funds for the “acquisition, demolition and designated substance survey and all other costs associated with the demolition” are to be funded from the “Events Centre capital account.”
Greater Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre posted about council’s action regarding the Ledo on his Facebook page Tuesday evening.
“This evening, Greater Sudbury council made the decision to purchase the Ledo Building at 300 Elgin St.,” he said.
“The building will be demolished and the lot will be considered for future parking. I am happy that council is working productively to improve the functionality of our downtown in pursuit of ensuring that the City of Greater Sudbury remains an attractive place to live, work, and play.”
The Ledo and the accompanying parking area were listed for sale through Realtor.ca for $1.2 million.
“Sudbury's historic Ledo flat iron building is now for sale,” said the ad.
“Almost 7,000 square feet of all brick building area plus a full basement, it is being sold with the large parking lot to the east. With it situated directly adjacent to the City's planned Junction East project or the new Sudbury Arena, this site is prime for redevelopment. Building needs work but has great potential.”
Last summer, a deal with a group of North Bay investors fell through.
The investors had announced a plan to invest $5 million into the 70-year-old building to get it ready for a new life as affordable housing. This is what the building was operating as until a small fire displaced residents and a growing collection of squatters in 2020.
Property owner George Soule said in 2022 it wasn’t clear why the investors backed out after considering their plan pretty much a done deal.
He said if somebody else “buys it, all the power to them,” adding, “I don’t know why the city doesn’t buy it.”
Developer Greg Oldenburg had at one time proposed a redevelopment of the Ledo Hotel building and surrounding property called Le Ledo, but backed out in early 2022.
The project changed since it was initially dreamed of, but ended up settling on a $50-million build with 120 hotel rooms and 50,000 square feet of commercial, event and hospitality space.
In early 2022, the proponents of the Le Ledo project blamed perceived uncertainty of the day regarding the future of the Junction East project, an OPP racketeering investigation related to the Kingsway Entertainment District as key reasons for backing away from the project.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s associate content editor.
