Canadian Tire Deal Set To Finalize
By Robert Thomas
It is a project that has been on the books since 2016 and over four years later the deal to build a new Canadian Tire and related retail development on Thatcher Drive East is on the verge of being finalized with the cash in the bank.
At the Moose Jaw Exhibition Company’s monthly board meeting details about the deal were released as part of the general manager’s report.
Canadian Tire’s retail development will be on land previously leased by the City to the Moose Jaw Exhibition Company and is located in the south east corner of the property adjacent Thatcher Drive East.
Meeting details show Canadian Tire has already paid the City a $200,000 deposit and the deal is set to be finalized before the end of the month with infrastructure work to commence in mid-April.
No details have been released when Canadian Tire plans to commence on-site work of their proposed development.
Speaking to the board Moose Jaw Exhibition Company general manager George Fowler said a letter had been received from Michelle Sanson planning director with the City of Moose Jaw inquiring about moving up the closing date for the land deal from April 1st to March 26th.
“We received a letter asking if we had concerns about moving the closing date from April 1st to March 26th because they want to start work on April 15th,” Fowler told the board.
Fowler also said the wording of the letter was strange until he had spoken to Sanson requesting a clarification about it and found out Canadian Tire “had gotten a report that you should not disturb them (burrowing owls) because of breeding dates.”
The location for the proposed Canadian Tire retail development - MJ Independent photo
The Burrowing Owl Centre cares for birds that have been hurt and unable to return to the wild and does not operate a breeding program for the endangered species.
Fowler said that even if the Moose Jaw Ex had wanted to stop the City from commencing the infrastructure work it is now too late to do so.
"It has now been over 30 days since we got the cheque and even if we wanted to we couldn’t.”
The Moose Jaw Exhibition Company received a cheque for $179,250 in February to pay for the dirt, fence and trees in the area.
In late 2016 Canadian Tire had proposed a deal to buy 11.95 acres of land leased to the Moose Jaw Exhibition Company for $316,000 per acre but the 2020 deal was $265,000 per acre for a total selling price of $3.1 million including off-site levies. The City will service not only the land sold to Canadian Tire but also complete a partial infrastructure connection to a 21.4 acre parcel directly north of the Canadian Tire property for potential future development.
There is no development proposed on the north property at this time but the Canadian Tire deal contains clauses which strictly controls what can be built on the land.
About previous communication problems between the City and Moose Jaw Ex regarding the development Fowler said things had changed immensely.
“They (the City) have turned the corner and really kept us up to speed,” he said.