MALL ACROSS FROM CAROL RICHARD PARK
IS STILL SCHEDULED FOR DEVELOPMENT
A
number of people were wondering about the mall that was scheduled for
development across from Carol Richard Park. I met with the developer
this week and he assured me that the mall is going to be built and is
hopeful that construction will begin sometime within the next 12 to 18
months.
There are a number of improvements to the land site that must be
completed to satisfy city planning department, such as a set of traffic
lights, curbs along the highway, and infrastructure installation, so he
indicated that before he spends about $2 million getting the site
prepared he needs to finalize a few more commitments from tenants.
He stated that the confidence in the Valley is as strong as ever and
knows that the residents can use the types of stores and services that
he will bring in. There will also be a very popular national restaurant
chain setting up in the mall when construction begins. Once details are
finalized, the information will be published. The Valley is still
growing. Nice to see!
The developer has explained to me some of the things that have delayed
construction and it is purely an economic and marketplace issue. He is
trying to bring in some big-name stores and those companies don't just
set up in a location willy-nilly. The do their market studies and decide
if the conditions are favourable for establishing in the Sudbury area,
in particular in a smaller town like Valley East. Some larger stores
have set up in central Sudbury in recent years and as a result delays
have taken place in the Valley market. One must remember that once a
company breaks the ground for construction, it may have been after 5 to
10 years of market research, feasibility studies, government approvals,
etc. There are a number of factors that have affected the progress to
date, but the owner is pretty sure that most of those challenges have
been resolved. I am pretty sure that by the end of 2015 at the latest we
will see shovels in the ground.
