The Kingsway Entertainment District’s private partners remain on board with the project during a time in which the City of Greater Sudbury’s commitment is up in the air pending city council’s vote.
These private partners include land developer Dario Zulich, hotel developer Genesis Hospitality and casino developer Gateway Casinos, whose facilities are expected to accompany a municipal arena/events centre at a property on The Kingsway as selected in 2017.
The three private partners issued letters to city council this week reaffirming their commitments, which is one of two key developments highlighted in a supplemental events centre update posted to the city’s website this week, which is in addition to the report previously reported on and featuring the project’s new $215-million municipal price tag.
The other news to come out of the supplemental report is that Ball/TESC Construction Inc. has been named the project’s design-build team after scoring higher in both technical and financial criteria than their lone competitor, PCL Constructors Canada Inc.
A third bidder, EllisDon Corporation, was also shortlisted but ended up not submitting a bid, clarifying to Sudbury.com via emailed correspondence that the timeline did not work for them.
One or more of the shortlisted bidders expressed concern about potential conflicts of interest earlier in the process, a criticism partly targeting TESC Construction Inc. The company’s CEO is Zulich, who is also the land developer and owner of the Sudbury Wolves hockey team and Sudbury Five basketball team, which will both use the arena.
The city refuted claims of conflicts in correspondence with the bidders, noting the design/build teams were shortlisted before The Kingsway location was selected as the preferred site, and that several steps have been taken to ensure the solicitation process is fair.
In the supplemental report by city administration, it’s noted that Ball Construction is “one of the leading construction companies in Ontario and an industry leader in design-build projects.”
They have built more than 28 ice rinks, and together with Architecture 49 Inc., which is part of their bidding team with TESC, have designed and built 20 multi-use sports and recreation facilities.
In their letter, Genesis Hospitality, based in Brandon, Man., reaffirm their commitment to “construct a hotel at the KED consisting of a minimum of 135 rooms together with amenities such as conference facilities and a restaurant.”
Genesis Hospitality carries a 50-year history in the business and are continuing to explore markets where they can grow and prosper. In their letter, it’s noted that Genesis Hospitality “feel strongly that Sudbury is such a market and that our hotel will be successful at the KED alongside Gateway Casinos and the City of Greater Sudbury.”
In Gateway Casinos’ letter, executive vice president of development and construction Jagtar Nijjar wrote that they remain supportive of the project.
Legal challenges have long delayed the project, Nijjar wrote, citing the Land Planning Appeal Tribunal case to the Superior Court challenge by Tom Fortin and the Casino Free Sudbury Group. The city is also still waiting on the results of a legal challenge filed by the Minnow Lake Restoration Group, which Gateway Casinos cited in November as one of two key reasons for putting their investment into the project on hold at the time, alongside a now-dismissed corruption case investigated by the OPP.
“All of these actions have added considerable expense and time to proceeding with this development,” according to Nijjar’s letter. “Yet despite these setbacks and costs, we have not wavered in our decision to pursue the KED as the location for our new Sudbury Casino. To date, Gateway has invested over $4 million in design, development and legal costs at the KED site.”
Gateway Casinos has been joining other project partners by meeting weekly for the past year to establish a project completion agreement so everything can open at approximately the same time in 2025.
“We are looking for all parties to work together to provide certainty to allow this project to proceed as soon as possible,” Nijjar added.
In his letter, Zulich confirmed his company, Kingsway Entertainment District LTD, “has always been and remains fully committed to developing the property on The Kingsway together with Genesis Hospitality Inc., Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited and the City of Greater Sudbury. We look forward to commencement of construction in the fall.”
In subsequent correspondence with Sudbury.com, Zulich said he “completely agreed” with Mayor Brian Bigger’s assertion a price tag of $215 million was “way higher than expected and is out of the question.”
“Now that the preferred design-build team has been selected, I am looking forward to the next stage in the process,” he added.
“With input of all stakeholders including the city, the operator and the Sudbury Wolves/FIVE, they can refine the design and develop an acceptable project budget for city council. This next stage is where the true value of this process lies, and value engineering is achieved.”
Just what this next stage will look like, if there is a next stage, will be determined by city council on Tuesday. Although city administration’s recommendation to proceed with a $215-million build appears destined to be shot down, Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc has expressed his intention to submit a motion for the city to proceed with a $150-million build.
Tuesday’s city council meeting is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. and can be attended in-person at Tom Davies Square or viewed virtually by clicking here.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
