Canalta, Co-op to build big on south side
Commercial development in the city’s southeast quadrant is officially booming again.
Signs went up Friday to announce upcoming projects by Canalta Hotels and South Country Co-op on city-owned land at a Strachan Road lot currently part of a conditional sale to Canalta’s land development wing.
A new hotel and Co-op retail complex, two stand-alone restaurants and a seniors’ living facility are also described in a Canalta release that suggests it is in the final stages of marketing the 17-acre parcel before closing a sale with the city’s land office this summer.
“We’re excited to continue our investment in the community of Medicine Hat and to partner with South Country,” Canalta owner Blair Christenson stated in press release.
The company did not respond to inquiries for further information on timelines, construction values or future plans.
The lot sits at 2501 Strachan Road, beside Home Depot near Dunmore Road, and across from a planned commercial park, where servicing work is now underway.
If it moves ahead, it would be the fourth major construction project in the general vicinity either ongoing or proposed.
South Country would build a convenience store, liquor store, gas bar and car wash at the site on its 3.6 acre portion.
“We are looking forward to continuing to develop and grow our offerings,” stated South Country general manager Mike Clement in the statement.
Unrelated to Co-op, Boston Pizza and A&W will also set up operations.
Canalta, which operates the Hamptons Inn and Suites by Hilton hotel in Box Springs Business Park, would construct extended stay lodging at the rear of the site, overlooking a scenic retention pond, beside land denoted for a “seniors’ living facility.”
About one-third of the site is still marketed as a build-to-suit opportunity for other tenants.
The parcel is the subject of a conditional sale made public by the city late last year, wherein Canalta would take some land itself and also shop subdivided portions to smaller developers.
The price of the eight-acre initial parcel is $2.9 million to the city’s land and properties office, but with an option on the remaining nine acres, worth about $3.3 million, in place.
City land officials told the News they have nothing official to report but the sale was moving smoothly toward a closing date in mid-August.
John Bulmer of the land office says, generally, the news is very positive.
“Development on the southside is very encouraging,” he said, noting the land had sat in the city inventory for more than 10 years.
“I think people in that part of town will appreciate having some gas stations as well.”
The Co-op project was tipped to members during the annual general meeting last month when financial statements included a note that $1.3 million had been spent to purchase land in Medicine Hat for “future development.”
South Country has been expanding rapidly over the past two years. New administration offices will open this summer. Two new cardlocks are under construction in Taber and Bow Island. Also, the Northlands food store is the site of major renovations this year. Two liquor outlets opened in Lethbridge in 2016.
In 2015, Brentwood Developments had previously expressed interest in the 17 acres but let a conditional sale lapse. It announced this past fall that Save-on-Foods would anchor a new building at its Strachan Corner development across the street.
Work to demolish the former Walmart supercentre on that site commenced in the winter. Site grading began this week for a first phase that will also include a Liqour Depot outlet, 7-11 gas bar, pub and Tim Hortons.
A separate hotel development permit was issued last summer to the Braemar Group to build further east.
The nearby Medicine Hat Mall is undergoing a $20-million renovations to create a new food court and several mid-sized retail bays.