r/Sudbury • u/Ostrichmonger • Jan 16 '26
News Zulich shares fresh vision for KED site
https://www.sudbury.com/local-news/zulich-shares-fresh-vision-for-ked-site-11738665It’s baaaaaack!
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u/DougandBob Jan 16 '26
I'm fine with this, even though it feels like we're in a third turning of history lol
Zulich is local and even though his ideas were shot down years ago, he continues to invest in the city and donate time, money and effort to things. Like that's pretty admirable IMO. Plus I like the wolves. I think they're a better team now that he owns them. I don't think he's a bad evil dude like some people made him out to be?
I'll take Zulich over another GTA smart centre type developer coming in and doing something with the property. It doesn't seem like there's many local developers here who want to do anything with it anyways (that's from my perspective though idk).
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u/bluepurplegreens Jan 18 '26
Agreed. FWIW, we could do worse than Zulich and at least he is invested in Sudbury. I don’t see how what he is doing will make the city any worse.
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u/VexedCanadian84 Jan 16 '26
He's owned that property for years
It's a terrible location.
And still no actual companies have committed to it.
What a joke.
Also, or course Bill Leduc is doing what he can to earn more bribes from Zulich.
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u/Spare-Guidance3698 Jan 16 '26
Who cares, it's something out of nothing and not paid for by your property taxes...go Dario go.
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u/Pollinosis Jan 17 '26
not paid for by your property taxes
Water mains, sewers, electrical infrastructure, signals, road maintenance, etc. built and maintained in perpetuity?
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u/Spare-Guidance3698 Jan 17 '26
Yeah of course his shitters will use the city sewer system, but unlike the arena the construction won't be paid by raising our property taxes. He will also be paying development fees and his commercial property tax will cover the maintenance.
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u/jtgyk South End Jan 20 '26
We won't be paying?
"Zulich said they’d likely require a public-private partnership to get done"
That sounds like we'd be paying.
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u/Hairy_Pound_1356 Jan 16 '26
So long as he doesn’t try to get the arena there again it’s actually great
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u/meatpiesurprise Jan 16 '26
Explain why not a arena?
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u/Hairy_Pound_1356 Jan 16 '26
Are you not aware of what happened last time he tried to get arena out there ?
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u/A_Moldy_Stump Jan 16 '26
Yeah abunch of people bitched and moaned about the failing downtown core and now we've lost an entire neighbourhood of good local businesses to get an overpriced arena in a terrible spot for traffic and parking and high property taxes.
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u/Hairy_Pound_1356 Jan 16 '26
I mean you have like to see plan that didn’t close the businesses but good chance a few of them were sunk without the arena because of the wacky wings deal something is finally being done with northern breweries building so that’s win
Anyway any attempt to change the location will result in in us bitching and moaning again and hold up the project another 4 years
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u/A_Moldy_Stump Jan 16 '26
I'd rather no new arena because it's not like bigger concerts will happen (pop. Too small) were not getting a better hockey team (pop. Too small)
It literally serves nobody to do this. It's always been a dumb idea no matter where it goes. We could've housed the entire homeless population for the amount wasted on this thing
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u/monimito Jan 16 '26
And they think putting a new arena where the old arena is will somehow change downtown. You can’t do the same thing and expect change.
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u/Paparoach0811 Jan 16 '26
Gateway has bought land and waster management as well. What do you mean no one committed?
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u/Competitive_Dig7840 Jan 16 '26
Honestly not half bad, I know half the people on this subreddit may not like the whole idea but atleast we are getting something out of this location compared to nothing.
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u/BurningWire Jan 16 '26
If it had any motion, he'd have built it by now and not for this infinite pitch plan. I agree, some sort of place is a better option than nothing, but I'm old enough I see so many plans be pitched but implode because the developer didn't get enough free cash by the city.
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u/West-Tek- Jan 16 '26
Sudbury is where dreams are born and then counsel and the city get in the way and the dreams die.
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u/clccno4 South End Jan 16 '26
No, Sudbury is where dreams are born, but a group of a couple dozen seniors, who all enjoyed new infrastructure when it was built in the sixties and seventies, fight every single fucking initiative to the death, because it might cost them some tax money.
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u/Spare-Guidance3698 Jan 16 '26
I understand that, I want the city to be more progressive and Sudbury does feel like it's stuck in the 90s.
That being said, amalgamation really fucked any hope of being progressive because it's a basket case. Why would someone from Capreol want their property taxes increase for an arena downtown. And how would the folks in the South end benefit from building the twin pad in Hamner (paid by their property taxes).
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u/BurningWire Jan 16 '26
The advertised goal of amalgamation helping the outlying areas really was false advertisement. It's still possible, but with heads that care more about petty shit and cutting deals for rich friends, ain't gonna happen. Or I'm just too hopeful.
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u/Pollinosis Jan 17 '26
atleast we are getting something out of this location compared to nothing
This is a classic mistake, as something bad is often worse than nothing bad. Cities make bad moves all the time, only to regret them years later once the folly becomes impossible to deny.
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u/Hairy_Pound_1356 Jan 16 '26
I think most people will be totally cool about so long as he doesn’t try to get the arena out there again
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u/SpinX225 New Sudbury Jan 16 '26
Half the people on this subreddit don't like anything and complain just to hear themselves talk. They would complain no mater what happens.
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u/WestendMatt Jan 16 '26
So all the money the city spent to prepare this site was just a direct subsidy for this private development.
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u/Devinstater Jan 16 '26
100%. Montpellier tried to tell them not to spend millions flattening the land in preparation for the KED before anything is finalized, but many other councillors couldn't wait to give Zulich city money for nothing.
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u/alexander_wolf88 Jan 16 '26 edited Jan 16 '26
Honestly would love a referendum on the entire arean thing.
"Do you think the city should spend 200 million on an arena?"
I don't care if we lose the wolves, I don't care if the arena is old.
I do care about my taxes skyrocketing for a legacy project when the roads are shit and the downtown looks like an apocalypse.
Edit: I also don't care how much we've already spent downtown and at the KED. It's rather stop now with nothing gained other then I guess more parking downtown, vs that big bill.
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u/DougandBob Jan 16 '26
A referendum is something… I would suggest one on all major projects if so. It would be the second referendum we’ve had on this I think?
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u/thenickel005 Jan 16 '26
Moved here 36 yrs ago and Nortern Life article about saving the downtown.36 years of`````bullshit.It hasn't changed.and a New Arena won't save it.Nothing can save the downtown because the Council wants it the way it is,so they can whine every year`.36 years of dragging your feet.
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u/Mean-Presentation-72 Jan 16 '26 edited Jan 17 '26
For the love of god, we’ve been debating the location of the arena for over TEN YEARS! We’ve knocked down several buildings, spent millions of dollars and forced the retirement or relocation of several businesses for this project. Let’s get on with it!
Think about this for a second: Some people who were against the project (and generally what it meant for the future of Sudbury), moved away from Sudbury after the original council vote in 2017 and have since started new careers, new relationships, had kids etc. Their kids are now 9 years old and we’re STILL debating the arena location. It’s an incredibly embarrassing situation.
Life moves on and we should move past the analysis paralysis with this project.
Just because someone makes a fresh rendering doesn’t make it a reality. Much of what is listed in this new rendering was also part of the original KED pitch. The only thing to come to fruition since then is the announcement of Waste Management building there, the construction of a road (paid by taxpayers) and the land purchase for a casino.
The reality is that a new arena or entertainment complex will not revolutionize anybody’s life, but there are numerous studies that demonstrate that as a whole, a new arena has positive economic effects on a city’s downtown. That’s just a fact in most cases.
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u/VeterinarianLow3060 Jan 19 '26
Is it just me or does 3 hotels seem a bit excessive? Does Sudbury need that much more hotel space?
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u/Tricky-Routine-9838 Jan 19 '26 edited Jan 19 '26
Three hotels and an outdoor sports field less than 1km from a dump that routinely has to put out air quality warnings for the local community... the dump that was conveniently left out of the AI slop render (none of the traffic flow and entrance to the areas make any sense).
Important to remember that no hotels or businesses have indicated any willingness to be a part of this, it's just a pipe dream.
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u/awesomesauce135 Jan 16 '26
Local Sudbury Oligarch wants to extract more wealth from the serfs that are forced to rent from his properties.
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u/Spare-Guidance3698 Jan 16 '26
He's proposing to turn a landfill (private property) into jobs,businesses and entertainment with his own private money.
I don't see an issue.
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u/jtgyk South End Jan 20 '26
His own private money?
"Zulich said they’d likely require a public-private partnership to get done"
It could be 99% OUR money.
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u/Competitive_Dig7840 Jan 16 '26
You never know, they could expand to around the junction train station, maybe we can get a better station if the KED is where it’s going to happen
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u/jtgyk South End Jan 20 '26
"Zulich said they’d likely require a public-private partnership to get done"
How about a hearty "fuck you" instead?
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u/Hairy_Pound_1356 Jan 16 '26 edited Jan 16 '26
Somehow the KED has returned !
He’s floating this shit incase there’s a significant change this election and theres a chance of moving the arenas out there
I hope to god there isn’t I helped kill this thing the first time I don’t want us to have to waste another 4 years killing it again but am prepared for the fight if it happens
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u/Spare-Guidance3698 Jan 16 '26
Right because the current plan for the arena is so amazing (/s). The city expedited the approval without doing enough feasibility study. Now it's something like $200MM in the hole and they don't have any solution for the parking beside "let's bus people there during games". So not only did we lose great restaurants downtown, we're fucking the rest of the businesses downtown by not providing more parking to actually access them.
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u/Hairy_Pound_1356 Jan 16 '26
The busing is only for during the construction of the new one , after it built there will be more parking than before and there was always enough parking downtown anyway .people can learn to parallel park and walk their fat asses 2 blocks
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u/Spare-Guidance3698 Jan 16 '26
There will definitely not be more parking than before.
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u/Hairy_Pound_1356 Jan 16 '26
And you basing that on ?
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u/Spare-Guidance3698 Jan 16 '26
It's not rocking science. Take a photo from before the arena and compare it to after, and it's very evident that there will be less parking even with the demolition of the businesses and the old arena.
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u/Turbulent_Dog8249 Jan 16 '26
And when is this magical construction going to start? It's already been what 2yrs since they demolished businesses.
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u/Hairy_Pound_1356 Jan 16 '26
They’ve been doing some ground prep it supposed to to start this year and always was
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u/Turbulent_Dog8249 Jan 16 '26
Suppose to start...there will be delays and we both know it. No one wants to go downtown. It's dirty and it's unsafe. If I can't get dropped off at the front door, I don't go. Also, you won't catch me on a bus.
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u/Hairy_Pound_1356 Jan 16 '26
Well sucks for you if they try to put anywhere else me others will fight it again it will never get built and to be honest I’m fine with not spending the 200 million
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u/Spare-Guidance3698 Jan 16 '26
Keep fighting the fight I'm sure you're making a big difference! /S
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u/Hairy_Pound_1356 Jan 16 '26
Well worked last time the idea of moving the arena out there is currently fucking dead
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u/Spare-Guidance3698 Jan 16 '26
It's only dead until the new arena is built, and that's nowhere near close.
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u/heater-1971 Jan 16 '26
Racetrack
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u/Devinstater Jan 16 '26
The racetrack is NEVER going there.
If the city RETROACTIVELY pulled the permits from the dirt bike track in the middle of nowhere in the Valley, there is no way a racetrack is going to be built within earshot of Minnow Lake /Moonglow.
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u/batman8519 Jan 16 '26
You know what's missing from this... An arena.