Midtown Plaza plans $80M in mall renos, asks for $2.8M tax break

The owners of Saskatoon's Midtown Plaza are pitching an $80-million redevelopment plan for the downtown property.

The group, led by Toronto-based KingSett Capital, is also asking the City of Saskatoon and the Saskatchewan government for tax abatements over five years totalling $2.8 million to help offset the cost of the project.

The city, which supports the abatement, says the project could boost the value of the mall by about $38 million.Tearing down the walls of the former Sears building, which has been vacant since last fall, and placingtwo new tenants in the renovated space,is part of the plan.

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"This development represents a significant investment in the downtown and may become a catalyst for additional development in the area," the city wrote in a recent report."There is significant risk with this scale of development, and the tax abatement represents a relatively small portion of that investment."

Other elements of the renovation project include:

• A complete overhaul of the former Sears building.
• Moving the food court to the second floor of the new building.
• Adding glazing and shop fronts along 1st Avenue.
• Reorienting the ground floor layout to provide improved access to Idylwyld Drive and Riversdalearea.
• A new faade and canopy treatmentfor the former Sears building.
• New food venues.

At 160,000 square feet, Sears was the second largest tenant in the Midtown Plaza, behind only The Bay, which occupies three floors and 180,000 square fee.

The city's portion of the tax break would come from itsVacant Lot and Adaptive Reuse Incentive Program, although an amendment to the policy would need to be made in order for the mall owners to tap into the program, according to the city.

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The builders of a proposed World Trade Center, also eyed fordowntown Saskatoon,were approved for a tax break under the same program last October.

The mall's rear parking lot backs onto part of Idylwyld Drive. The city is proposing some changes to that busy boulevard, including reducing the seven-lane highway to six lanes and putting raised bike lanes on both sides of the street.

"The timing of all of this [the mall renos] fits really nicely with that plan," said Brent Penner, the executive director of Saskatoon's downtown business development district.

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"I don't think the city is ready to go full bore into making those changes on Idylwyld yet, but knowing that you have major property owner who is intent on making this kind of investment. is very, very important."