Redeveloping a downtown: Sudbury group proposes mixed-use infill project.

• Author: Kelly, Lindsay
• Position: DESIGN-BUILD

Sudbury's Downtown Village Development Corporation (DVDC) is proposing a mixed-used development project that would meet multiple needs in the downtown, while kickstarting improvements to the core of the city.

In a concept paper prepared in June, the DVDC proposes constructing a new building on a currently empty parking lot, which would be comprised of a minimum of 200 structured parking spaces, a minimum of 10,000 square feet of office space, and a minimum of 10,000 square feet of retail space.

If the plan is approved by city council, the DVDC would solicit interest from private developers, with bonus points awarded to the proposal that includes a residential component.

But to sweeten the deal for would-be developers, the organization wants to see the city put in place incentives, such as interest-free loans, to ease the financial burden associated with development projects.

DVDC manager Susan Thompson cited a recent example of a Sudbury-based developer who undertook a $ 12-million residential building project in Hamilton because the city offered up a $5-million, five-year interest-free loan under its financial incentive program. The project, now complete, is 61 per cent leased.

"We have to make these projects viable and appealing to the private sector, and they're not right now; they're very breakeven," Thompson said. "We see there's a role for the city to play in getting these projects off the ground, and we're in the process of negotiating what that would actually end up being."

Some incentives are offered under the city's Community Improvement Plan, which was amended recently to expand the downtown area. But restrictive language prevents the incentives from being used for residential, structured parking, or multi-use mixed projects like the kind the DVDC is proposing.

Yet that type of project is exactly what the downtown needs, Thompson said. The city's Master Plan, completed in 2012, calls for an additional 3,000 to 5,000 residents living in the downtown over the next several years. And there has long been a dearth of parking options available to those shopping, working and living in the downtown.

Although the Master Plan calls for three structured parking...