The City of Greater Sudbury is spending at least $2.49 million and counting to expropriate the Wacky Wings property in downtown Sudbury for the municipal events centre project.
This is the amount included in a slide presentation slated to update city council members on progress related to the $225-million arena/events centre, during Tuesday night’s meeting.
It represents the property market value in isolation, and the slide clarifies, “The owner maintains the rights to claim additional compensation under the Expropriations Act.”
This piece of provincial legislation requires the owners of expropriated land be compensated for:
- The market value of the land
- The damages attributable to disturbance
- Damages for injurious affection
- Any special difficulties in relocation
The $2.49 million only accounts for the first bullet point, and Wacky Wings owner Craig Burgess clarified to Sudbury.com that even this amount is a matter of debate, since it represents the amount in the city-commissioned property appraisal.
“We have an appraisal that we have, too, which hasn’t been released yet … that is of greater value than that,” he said, adding that a back-and-forth regarding the property’s actual value still needs to be hashed out through the expropriations process.
Between this and other things he anticipates his company being compensated for, Burgess said the final number is “going to be substantially greater” than this initial figure.
“I can say with confidence you’re going to go way more than double that,” he added.
“Damages attributable to the disturbance” began when the city announced the expropriation several months ago, Burgess said, at which time he said the Sudbury location experienced an immediate drop in traffic.
“People won’t invest in buying gift cards when they don’t know if you’re going to close,” he said. “That’s an injury, and that’s compounding as we speak.”
The city has allowed Wacky Wings to remain at their current location until the end of March, and Burgess said they’re still trying to find a new location to house the restaurant.
“We can’t find a suitable site as of yet, and the market seems to be pretty tight,” he said, adding that even when they finally find a new location, it’s going to be an expensive move the city will be liable for.
“You don’t need to look too deep to read between the lines and say, how much would it take to move 12,000 square feet of Wacky’s — refrigerators, you name it, everything; electrical, the fire-suppression system, the list goes on and on and on,” he said. “You’re not talking a few-hundred thousand dollars, you’re talking millions.”
The Wacky Wings property at 187 Shaughnessy St. is within the south district of downtown Sudbury, where the city has planned to construct a new arena/events centre, plus free up surrounding property for private ancillary services.
All properties were either owned by the city or had owners willing to sell, except for Wacky Wings, whose ownership wanted to remain in place to accommodate the arena project.
Between property acquisitions and demolition costs, the city had spent approximately $16.3 million as of last month, with approximately $4.2 million remaining in their budget for these efforts. This running total excluded the Wacky Wings property.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
