Economy swallows land.

• Author: Ross, Ian

The economic spinoffs from Sudbury's mining boom and improving economy is having a ripple effect in construction throughout the industrial, commercial and institutional sector.

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With Inco re-opening old mines, new Falconbridge owners Xstrata Nickel promising more investment, and upstart miners like FNX Mining and First Nickel adding new production to the Sudbury Basin, there's been a growing demand for industry space.

"It's causing a (supply) crunch and we don't see it letting up for a few years," says commercial realtor Larry Gauthier of Mallette-Goring Inc. He's seeing tremendous demand from both local industrial shops and incoming companies looking for space in Sudbury.

"There was a period of more than 10 years where there was no demand nor construction to speak of. Over the last two years, there's been such a turn-around on the industry side, driven by the mining sector, the demand for space has increased substantially and our supply has dwindled out to nothing."

The City of Greater Sudbury estimates that this year there's $80.6 million worth of industrial, commercial and institutional construction including Anmar Mechanical and Electrical Contractors. The steel fabricators are moving from their shared space with Atlas Copco across Mumford Road into a new 58,000-square-foot building.

B & D Manufacturing plans to move out of its cramped 30,000-square-foot Falconbridge Road building after purchasing a 117-acre property to build a 51,000-square-foot complex. They are tentatively planning their opening in the spring or summer of 2007.

Stainless Steel Technology built onto their 35,000-square-foot shop with a 20,000-square-foot addition to house an 80-foot drop test tower and a 30-tonne crane to test conveyance safety systems before shipping them to customers.

Space in the Walden Industrial Park, near Inco's Copper Cliff refinery, is basically full, says Gauthier.

"We're starting to see interest for the Valley East industrial park as well. The supply is so little that (there) isn't much choice out there."

Average price of an industrial lot ranges from $35,000-per acre to $200,000 depending on location, soil conditions and access to transportation routes.

On the retail side, the construction of big box stores along the Kingsway has expanded the city's market radius and attracted more regional shoppers.

"There's tremendous growth in that area and a strong retail appetite for retail chains to come into this area," says...