The needle inched forward on the Kingsway Employment District (KED) on Monday, with the planning committee of city council approving the rezoning of two parcels of land.
These approvals reflect an application “largely technical in nature,” city senior planner Wendy Kaufman told the committee, but point to the developer readying land for future use.
The land in question includes parcels the province owns to the north and the city owns to the south, which the developer is purchasing and needs rezoned to fit the district’s industrial uses.
The northernmost portion is split between two owners, including 2,360 square metres of land owned by the KED and 4,750 square metres held by the province as part of a former telephone line right of way which they’re under discussion to purchase.
The southern portion includes 1,692.1 square metres of City of Greater Sudbury-owned land abutting The Kingsway, which the city declared surplus and is under an agreement of purchase and sale to the KED.
City council voted in July for the lands to be declared surplus, and passed a bylaw in September affirming its sale to Kingsway Entertainment District Inc. for $48,000, plus HST.
Also called the Jack Nicholas Business and Innovation Subdivision, the KED site encompasses industrial lands stretching north from The Kingsway, west of the Sudbury Landfill Site.
The KED site was formerly known under the same acronym, but a slightly different Kingsway Entertainment District name, until city council pulled funding for a municipal arena at the site in 2022.
Not much took place at the site since that time, until recently.
In late 2024, a Waste Management Inc. transfer facility was approved to take shape at its northeast edge as the first tenant of the newly reconfigured KED.
In April, city council approved an $8.6-million contribution toward a road opening up the KED site, running north from Levesque Street. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held in August.
On June 30, Gateway Casinos and Entertainment Ltd. purchased land at the KED site, though Gateway Casinos has declined comment regarding any future development at the site. The casino had previously signed on as a partner for the since-cancelled Kingsway Entertainment District.
Monday’s rezoning decision still needs to be ratified by city council as a whole during Tuesday night’s meeting, but Monday’s unanimous support points to a likelihood it will receive.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.