SASKATOON – More than 100 people, including mayors, reeves and business owners, showed up for a Dundurn megamall presentation on Thursday.
Many leaders are showing their support for the mall’s construction approximately 40 km south of Saskatoon, which is expected to generate $30 million in annual tax revenue.
It hasn’t been easy for the CEO of Brightenview Development Joe Zhou, who is attempting to convince residents that this project will go through.
His company’s plans for a 350 store megamall in a town with a population of fewer than 700 people, has been met with skepticism.
Zhou says despite what people think, Dundurn is the perfect location for the mall.
“It is geographically, strategically sound and it’s a perfect location for the design, for the exhibition centre, and ultimate formation of this marketplace,” said Zhou.
He also says the business model itself is unlike anything else that has been tried in North America.
Planners say Canadian companies who normally buy from warehouses in China will be able to purchase from the Dundurn location instead.
“They can order them here, without having to travel to Asia, and they just get it shipped in so they’re cutting out the cost of having people overseas to do their buying and selling,” saidDoug Narraway, mayor of Dundurn.
Brightenview Development hasn’t asked for any government investment to build in the province, which is estimated to cost between $130 and $140 million to build.
“If someone is spending this kind of money, I think they’re going to go places with it,” said Narraway.
Saskatchewan labour minister Don Morgan has given the project his endorsement, saying he’s impressed by the possibility for 1,000 jobs.
“They mentioned 350 families, but I think its 350 businesses, so there would be obviously a lot of people and they would hire a lot of local people,” said Morgan.
Construction is said to begin this fall with the shopping centre opening about 2 years later.
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