It’s only a concept. But if the massive retail development south of Hwy. 2 in Slave Lake goes ahead as proposed, here’s what it will probably look like.
It includes three large stores and seven smaller ones. Plus parking for 1,552 vehicles and three entrances off Hwy. 2.
All that information is contained in a ‘concept site plan’ included in Town council’s package for its Oct. 13 meeting.
Springwood Developments of Edmonton is the company negotiating with the Town and making plans to prepare the site. They are spending money and are not doing it entirely on speculation. Although nobody is saying it for sure, (The Leader is waiting for a call back from Springwood spokesman John Burton) it is quite likely that Springwood has agreements in place with a minimum of two ‘anchor’ tenants. If it didn’t, it wouldn’t be proceeding with site prep. Whether one of those major tenants will be Wal-Mart remains to be stated on the record. A spokesman confirmed the company’s interest, but not more, on Friday.
All the Town knows or can say for sure is that it is dealing with Springwood Developments on preliminary matters. There isn’t even a development agreement yet for the full project.
The deal on the Hwy. 2 and Main St. intersection is a pretty strong sign of things to come, however.
The Town agreed to pay the bulk of the cost of building a new intersection that would allow Main St. to proceed south of the highway. However, Springwood must pay the full cost up front, and recover the Town’s portion over a few years. Under the agreement, the Town will make payments based on the amount of construction that has actually taken place.
A Springwood rep told council at a meeting last week that construction on building sites could begin as early as Mar. 1 of next year.

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