Genesis Hospitality reaffirms commitment, outlines plan for KED hotel

More details are slowly coming to light about a proposed hotel at Sudbury's controversial Kingsway Entertainment District (KED).

Despite several legal hold-ups and delays surrounding the site, Genesis Hospitality, a Manitoba-based hotel operation, has publicly signed on to build a new facility.

Genesis operates 12 properties across Canada, including sites in Hamilton, Mississauga and Vaughan.

Sudbury serves as a "connection point" between those properties and its Victoria Inn in Thunder Bay, Kevin Swark, executive president of Genesis Hospitality, told CBC.

"[Sudbury] is a market we've kept our eye on for a number of years," Swark said. "It's a strong occupancy market. We like the opportunity there."

He added there's no timeline on the hotel's construction, but they're firmly committed to the location, even as Gateway Casinos, one of the KED's other partners, announced it was temporarily halting its own portion of the build.

"Our deal is hinged on all three components that need to happen the hotel, the casino and an arena," Swark said. "So it's very important that those contributing factors get built as well."

As far as Gateway's intentions, Swark said he's only as aware as the public on the casino's delay, and he wouldn't comment on itsfuture.

"We're still doing a lot of our legwork on it and due diligence, and we're still moving forward with our work," he said.

"I think the city wants a hotel there, and I think it'll be a great opportunity for our company to build in Sudbury."

Swark also kept details on the hotel's size, or a potential brand close to the vest.

"We haven't finalized the room count, the design, the plan yet, so we're still working with the brand and that will be determined later," Swank said. "But it'll be significant. And it's just not going to be a 20-room motel, for sure."

But not everyone sees the announcement as a positive step in the city.

More analysis needed, councillor says

City councillor Geoff McCausland, who represents Ward 4 in Greater Sudbury, said he was reserving judgment on Genesis' announcement until some questions were answered.

Those include concerns about the hotel's proximity to the city landfill, and to what extend Genesis incorporated current marketing research into their decision.

"Seeing construction, seeing things go up in town is great, but I mean, a hotel doesn't necessarily represent any significant economic development," MacCausland said, pointing to recent builds of Microtel, Hilton, and Fairfield hotels in the same area.

"So the hotels that might be going up really for a reason that's totally separate from the Kingsway Entertainment Districtlike accommodating travelling workers which then leads to the next question if you do your market analysis, is that the best place to actually be if [building?]"

"You're talking about being next to a casino and an arena that's active only a few hours a week."