Stelco to get most of its land back & a new film studio may be coming to town

The name Stelco is still seared into the side of a Burlington street building, although the steelmaker hasn’t been in control of the 20-acre property since its lands were taken over during bankruptcy protection, until today.

A judge has approved the sale of the property and another 15-acre parcel deeper in the Stelco complex to go back to Stelco for $20 million.

Steelworkers local 1005 union President Gary Howe says $18 million of the proceeds will go into the pension fund.

“The pension plans are slowly getting better. They’re in the 80% range, that’s a lot better than they were in bankruptcy.”

A few weeks ago Stelco president Alan Kestenbaum met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and called him incredibly supportive of the steel industry.

At one time Stelco had buildings for work related to the production of steel on the 2.6 acres at Queen and Stuart Sts., but that is the one section of land Stelco is not taking back at the conclusion of its land deal.

The land has been sold for $4 million to a company that wants to build a film studio. The company has also been talking to the city about acquiring some adjacent land, known as the Barton Tiffany lands, which was assumed when Hamilton was going to build a football stadium.