“The city bought it, period, end of story,” Ledo Hotel building owner George Soule told Sudbury.com of the 70-year-old building, which has been vacant since 2020.
“The city purchased it, I’m a happy man.”
Although Soule declined further comment, Mayor Paul Lefebvre spoke with Sudbury.com about last week’s city council decision to purchase the building at a cost of $900,000.
A motion authorizing the property’s purchase coming out of a closed session of city council June 13 was then passed during the meeting’s open portion later that evening.
Lefebvre commented on the matter on social media afterward.
The building at 300 Elgin St. “will be demolished and the lot will be considered for future parking,” he explained, citing the effort as a step toward improving the functionality of downtown.
“Staff are currently working to determine a comprehensive demolition cost,” a city spokesperson told Sudbury.com. “The demolition of the existing building will occur sometime shortly after the closing date of the purchase agreement.”
Rather than risk the building remaining vacant any longer, or having an investor purchase it only to sit on it for an extended period of time, Lefebvre told Sudbury.com that city council opted to take advantage of the fact the building was up for sale and snatch it up now.
“We wanted to buy it and move on,” he said.
Although the mayor said it’s likely they will explore the possibility of purchasing other derelict properties, it’s always preferred that property owners maintain their buildings.
“We’ve noticed in the past that we can’t always rely on others to do that, unfortunately,”
Existing city bylaws lack the teeth to force property owners to maintain their building at what some deem an acceptable level, which Lefebvre said city council will be digging into.
A motion by Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann last year seeking information about what other municipalities are doing to address derelict buildings is expected soon, and Lefebvre said it’s a topic he plans on pursuing.
“We need to address these derelict buildings,” he said. “There are a number of them in town, as we well know.”
The Ledo Hotel building shuttered in late 2020 after city firefighters found numerous safety issues throughout, including a leaky roof, exposed wires and inoperable fire alarm system. The firefighters’ inspection came after they responded to a fire contained to a single unit.
Soule later told Sudbury.com that more squatters than rent payers had taken residence in the building at the time of the fire.
Le Ledo Inc., whose public head was director of development and marketing Greg Oldenburg, proposed a multi-million dollar redevelopment of the property in 2020, but the project never got off the ground.
In early 2022, Soule declared the Le Ledo project to be dead, and that the building would be renovated to accommodate affordable housing.
Sudbury.com toured the building at the time, finding the interior of its main floor largely gutted to accommodate a film shoot, with debris scattered throughout. With wires missing from many of the walls, Soule surmised that thieves had gotten in.
Although a group of investors came forward later that year with an affordable housing plan, they ended up backing out, prompting Soule to put the building back up for sale last summer.
When it comes to derelict buildings, the No. 1 structure to come up in Greater Sudbury is the long-vacant St. Joseph’s Health Centre on Paris Street.
Lefebvre has been asked about it repeatedly during recent town hall-style meetings. During a meeting in Ward 1 last month, he made his strongest pledge yet, saying, “In my term, something will happen.”
Panoramic Properties purchased the property in 2010 for approximately $1.34 million with a plan to redevelop it as condominiums — a project that has yet to proceed.
“I know people are impatient to see something,” Lefebvre said. “I don’t blame them. I see the old hospital every day.”
With the owner appearing “ready, willing and able to move forward,” Lefebvre said he expects to see them come forward with a project for city council approval.
In the event they don’t proceed with a project, Lefebvre said city council will consider whatever options they have at the time.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
