A Regina-based developer is looking to make La Ronge the new gateway to the north.
When it comes to big box stores in Saskatchewan, Prince Albert is the last stop for a lot of people who are heading north.
But Richard Jankowski with Avison Young says they’ve seen potential for La Ronge to become a big centre.
“It’s far enough away from P.A. to not compete with P.A. and it’s close enough to other things north of P.A. that are on the cusp. So it’s a gateway,” he said.
Jankowski says it’s not population, but location that makes La Ronge so appealing. But there are plenty of hoops that Avison Young needs to jump through on its path to unlocking the potential for what’s being called the “Gateway Business Park.”
Avison Young has already plotted out a parcel of land that’s 18.5 acres. Several months ago, the company got Town Council’s approval to start planning to set up water, power, and other services out on the land, which is on the southwest side of Highway 102. Any actual construction needs to be approved by council, making the agreement a conditional one.
Project manager Richard Jankowski says those setups have to be ready before they attract investors to what’s being called the “Gateway Business Park.” He says lots of companies – local and international – want to see land subdivided and water and other services set up before they’re ready to invest.
“Let’s put it this way, if an investor group or groups see value in this and they want to put their money to work they don’t want to have it sit around. So our work right now behind the scenes is setting the stage for this to move as quickly as possible,” he said.
In Jankowski’s eyes, there’s no doubt that La Ronge can support some big name stores.
“One thing we’re absolutely convinced is in the fact that there is a need. But we can’t come out of the starting blocks without having all of our i’s dotted and t’s crossed,” he said.
He said he does expect at least one business to pop up there within the next two years, but won’t say which one. Jankowski also says he doesn’t expect to be ready for a business to open any sooner than that.
Locally, there’s been a lot of talk about some of the possible big box stores coming to town.
Jankowski said there are a lot of moving pieces in a business development like this – especially when nothing of that scale currently exists in the region.
For now, Avison Young is still in process of making the business case for local and international companies to come to the area.
“There are firms that are interested who have looked at the market before. The challenge for them is that there hasn’t been a serviced land parcel that was adequate or had enough synergy within an area,” he said.
Basically, he’s saying there are interested firms but the land needs to be developed before they’re ready to commit to building.
Jankowski is staying coy about which businesses are interested – and which ones they’re courting – until they have further confirmation.
All he would say was “the development is going to allow for local, regional, and international tenants to have a presence in the park.”
In fact, Avison Young has requested that La Ronge Town Council does not share knowledge of any potential developments at this time.
Jankowski explained that reducing speculation is important because companies want to be in charge of announcing that they’re coming to a community, rather than the developer doing it.