'The dust is settling:' Sudbury developer faces long journey after arena vote
The 'divisive' debate over where the city's new event centre should be built is done. Now comes the hard part.
Property developer Dario Zulich says the dust is settling.
Zulich's proposal for a new arena at the True North Strong Events Centre—a multi-use sports and entertainment location on his Kingsway property—was approved 10-2 by city council Tuesday.
Now the work begins.
Zulich said the debate about potential locations was sometimes "divisive" and he looks forward to getting stakeholders together to figure out the next steps. That includes members from the downtown, property owners, investors and city officials.
"The city's going to own the land," Zulich said. "They've been very clear they want to own the land, and not tie the construction [of the events centre] to the people who own the land."
"Once it's built, there will be a separate operator," he said. "The consultants with the city said that would give the city the best product."
Zulich expects to be one of the bidders on both the centre's construction and its operation. He has even asked council if he could operate the current Sudbury arena, to give him some experience in operations.
That request will be voted on in August.
As for the property the proposed centre sits on, Zulich said he's willing to sell the land to the city "for virtually nothing," and mentioned $10 as a potential price.
He also plans to entice hotels—Vrancor Hotels have expressed interest in True North—and Gateway Casinos with the same type of offer.
City on board with vision
Mayor Brian Bigger, whose last-minute proposed amendment to the True North bid during council meeting drew criticism, said now that Zulich's vision for the centre has been approved, the city needs to get down to the nuts and bolts of the project.
"It's $100 million investment. The mayor's role to ensure the benefits we're basing our decisions on will accrue," Bigger said.
"Asking for more firmer commitments to some of the element on the site were what I had in mind [with the proposed amendment]," he said.
Bigger said the next step is to set up a request for proposal of the new centre. Although the council hasn't decided on the details of the proposal, Bigger said so far there are only plans to accept individual or group bids.
"The process is set up to get the very best price on that particular site," he said. "At this time we're not set up to move forward as a public-private partnership."
"The companies that will eventually build will go through a competitive process. If there's lower prices for individuals or groups, that's where [savings] come through."