Where Liberty Village intersects near Queen West is where you will find the once-popular Toronto events venue, 99 Sudbury. The host of everything from tattoo and art exhibitions to after-hour raves, weddings, corporate team-building events, beer gardens, fashion shows, and more. 99 Sudbury always had something in-store, regardless of the season.
As of this past April, 99 Sudbury has permanently closed its doors. Once an industrial glass factory in a sprawling industrial area west of the downtown core, 99 Sudbury has been surrounded by condo townhomes since the early 2000’s. Tucked on the other side of the train tracks along the curving Sudbury Street connecting King to Queen St W. In addition to being an events centre, it also hosted a popular Queen West fitness club which has also closed.
While anticipated for years now the actual closing of 99 Sudbury felt somewhat abrupt and almost unexpected with the appearance of a chain-link fence, caution tape, and anti-trespass signs appearing one day seemingly out of the blue. It resembles a construction zone waiting to break ground now, with few details on what’s next for this piece of land. Days before this, the website for 99 Sudbury was taken down and phone numbers registered to the address were disconnected.
It’s natural to think that the property could be knocked down to make way for more condos which is what it’s surrounded by on almost all sides. There have also been attempts in the past to re-develop 99 Sudbury into a condo/hotel building. A 2014 rezoning notice which still occupies real estate on the building is one such proposal – a 26-storey hotel and condo complex, although this never came to be. With that said, this application is still ‘open’ with no further action having been taken within the last three years. As of today, condos haven’t been approved for the site.
A SmartTrack station has also been discussed. A recent design update that was submitted to city hall shows that the King-Liberty SmartTrack station will have a main entry building positioned at – you guessed it – 99 Sudbury. This is one of six new SmartTrack locations which have been approved by all parties and are expect to begin construction shortly. Metrolinx has rights of this land, with the expressed purpose of expansion work.
It’s not known when work will begin, however this is great news for Liberty Village residents who will be connected to the rest of Toronto and the GTA in a way they haven’t been before. Regardless, it’s still going to take some time to set up. Metrolinx has yet to begin soliciting third party support for the approved location however once this stage is complete, it is expected the organization will partner with a development firm to work the SmartTrack station into something larger and more mixed-use.
The future of 99 Sudbury is going to be a meaningful one, especially for Liberty Village residents. For those who’ve ever enjoyed an after-party, industry event, or art exhibition here, for better or for worse, those days have passed. To the 99 Sudbury we remember, we’re sad to see you go.
