The deal between the City of Moose Jaw and Canadian Tire Real Estate Limited (CTREL) is nearly final, with infrastructure work on the affected property likely to commence next month.
CTREL paid the municipality a non-refundable deposit of $250,000 in January as part of an agreement to purchase property near the Moose Jaw Exhibition Company site. The deal includes 11.95 acres (4.78 hectares) for $3,171,725, or $265,500 per acre. The property is in the southeast corner near Thatcher Drive East.
The exhibition company board discussed the issue during its recent monthly meeting. Details released showed the deal between the city and CTREL would close before the end of March, with the municipality to start infrastructure upgrades in mid-April. The company received a letter from city hall’s planning and development department inquiring about moving up the closing date to March 26 from April 1, a decision that required the company’s approval.
“As far as we are aware, the Canadian Tire situation is moving ahead. We have received our payment (from the city) to cover the dirt that they (the city) are taking, and the fence,” general manager George Fowler said. “At this point, that’s really all I can say.”
The municipality gave the exhibition company roughly $179,000 in February to pay for the soil, fence and trees that will be affected by the construction, he continued. As part of a previous agreement, city hall agreed to pay for the roughly 600 loads of dirt the exhibition company hauled onto the property near the south end of the racetrack, along with 1,200 feet of chain-link fence the company erected.
Fowler was uncertain that the exhibition company would be able to transport the trees since they would likely not survive the move.
“They might, but moving them is very costly, so if you don’t think they’re going to survive, you might as well go buy some new ones,” he added.
City hall plans to use the excess dirt as fill on the Canadian Tire property.
As per the agreement with CTREL, city hall will service the land sold to Canadian Tire and complete a partial infrastructure connection to 8.56 hectares (21.4 acres) north of the property for potential future development.
The municipality has not yet announced any developments for that piece of land. However, clauses in the deal give CTREL firm control for decades over what can be built there.
In an email to the Moose Jaw Express, city hall confirmed several facts from during the board meeting, including:
- Canadian Tire paid a non-refundable deposit of $250,000; the first deposit was $50,000 and the second was $200,000
- The deal closes March 26
- Infrastructure work will commence in April
- The planning and development department sent the letter since the exhibition company leases the land and the agreement with CTREL was in place for April 1. The exhibition company needed to approve the change to move up the date
- The letter also mentioned concerns about the nearby burrowing owls because a biophysical study identified clearing the land before April 15 as criteria for the deal
The original contract between the city and CTREL was to close on April 16, 2020, while Canadian Tire had to commence construction before Oct. 31, 2021. However, based on a renegotiated contract, the company must start building before Oct. 31, 2022. This means the new building — which would bring Canadian Tire, Mark’s and SportChek under one roof — could be open by 2023.
