Red Lake's highway commercial area has found a permanent tenant.
Super 8 Motel is currently the only confirmed tenant for the 20-acre area, and has begun building for a late-fall grand opening.
The 2.8 acre motel will give the 4,000 motorists who pass by the area daily an opportunity to rest at its location.
The municipality of Red Lake has been recently working hard to pitch to businesses the opportunity to make a home in the highway commercial area.
Already with all the services built into it, such as water, sewer, hydro and telephone, and a paved access road from Highway 105 directly to it, Bill Greenway, economic development officer for the municipality of Red Lake, said that it shouldn't be too big of a challenge to convince owners to start in the area.
The municipality is currently in talks with another tenant, and Greenway said they are in the process of negotiating the purchase. The property is approximately 1.20 acres.
“This is an incredibly important opportunity for the community,” Greenway said.
As well, Greenway said he hopes significant development will take place at its industrial site by this summer, and anticipates Two Feathers Forest Products will announce a major value-added wood project. Two Feathers is a partnership of three First Nation communities in northwestern Ontario and the Wood Tech Group from Finland.
The entire 125-hectare industrial park was conceived with Two Feathers serving as the anchor tenants.Without their support, Red Lake wouldn't have obtained the funding they received from both the provincial and federal governments.
“That's where we are at right now,” said Greenway. “We're waiting for them to announce a project so we can get the funds released to do the infrastructure.”
Terry Flavelle, president of Two Feathers, did not respond to repeated interview requests by Northern Ontario Business.
Two Feathers first expressed interest in Red Lake in 2006 for its value-added saw mill and processing plant.
With Two Feathers business, Greenway said it would serve as a resurrection for the community since 300 jobs were lost in the area due to the downturn in the forest industry.
“You can be looking at at least 90 plant jobs here and another 150 harvesting,” he said, “all with the realization of this plant.”
Greenway said there remains a possibility that funds may be released based on interest expressed by a number of other business and industrial users looking for property there.
The 40-lot industrial park is immediately adjacent and north of Two Feathers and will include water, sewer, electrical, cable and an access road system.
As well, it is two kilometres north of Highway 125 and less than half a kilometre away from the airport.
“This entire thing is huge for us in terms of keeping the industrial support base,” said Greenway. “And if and when Two Feathers announces they have a project, the immediate vicinity to this place will be instrumental.”
The industrial park currently doesn't have any lots occupied.
