Strip mall plans scrapped

O’Leary’s cannabis store will now be a stand-alone building

The provincial government’s West Prince cannabis store will stand alone.

When O’Leary was announced last month as the West Prince location for one of four government-owned cannabis stores in the province, it was indicated the store would be part of a strip mall the town was planning.

At Thursday night’s monthly council meeting, development committee chairman Blake Adams announced the mall will not be going ahead, at least for now.

Council had actually voted to award a construction tender for the strip mall, to be known as O’Leary Retail Centre, during a special meeting on May 4.

The motion was contingent, however, on conditions of financing and on obtaining two signed leases. Council then adjourned until another special meeting on May 7 to finalize financing.

In between those meetings, plans fell off the rails.

According to minutes from the May 7 special meeting, Adams explained that a tenant had backed out of a verbal agreement to lease space in the mall.

Following Thursday’s meeting, Adams said council had been prepared to go ahead with a mall to accommodate three storefronts.

Council felt it had two confirmed tenants and was hopeful it could attract another to take the third space.

“We needed two to make it feasible, and the other one dropped out,” Adams said while explaining the decision to move away from the mall plans. “It’s at a stop right now. Our concentration now is on creating a location for the cannabis store.”

He said council remains hopeful of having a free-standing structure to accommodate the cannabis store by July. Tenders will be issued as soon as a design for a 1,400-to-1,500-square-foot structure is approved.

Adams said the store would go on the same lot where the strip mall was planned for, 478 Main Street, next to O’Leary Home Hardware. The town has owned the property since 2015.

If the strip mall plans get reactivated, he said it would go on that lot too. But it would not likely be connected to the cannabis store.