Old casino development seeking tenants

The developers of the old casino property on Third Avenue turned to Yorkton’s existing business community last week in an attempt to start filling the 19,755 square feet of available space.

At a breakfast meeting hosted by the Chamber of Commerce at Painted Hand Casino September 8, Pat Fiacco, executive director of Four Horse Development, and Linely Schaefer, a managing broker with ICR Commercial Real Estate gave an update on the renovation of the space.

Flood remediation and the new guts (electrical, plumbing etc.) are completed for the most part, Fiacco said. He expects to have the new façade on by November.

He also gave an overview of Four Horse, the development arm of Sakimay First Nation, including a description of a major commercial development adjacent to the new Global Transportation Hub just outside Regina.

Four Horse broke ground in June on that project, which will include an ESSO station, Tim Hortons, another restaurant and various commercial tenants, Fiacco said.

Schaefer got into more details on the Yorkton project.

“I think what we wanted to do was reach out to the business community here that we want to do business and if you’re looking at relocating, if you’re looking at doing a second location, it’s going to be a multi-tenant building so we can accommodate smaller users to larger users and different types of users from retail to office to service, that kind of thing,” Schaefer said. 

The vision, he explained, to have the development anchored by a family restaurant at the northeast corner of the building. He noted they have had interest from several national chains, but those are contingent on finding a local franchisee.

Schaefer asked those in attendance for help finding a franchisee and input on what else Yorkton would like to see in the new space. 

That space includes two levels. In the basement he noted they have 12-foot ceilings which would be ideal for recreational facilities, as an example.

“The added value in the basement is anything from a gym to bowling alleys to archery ranges to other rec users of that sort; it lends itself to a lot of uses,” he said.

Currently rent is set at $18 per square foot, but Schaefer said that is not necessarily a final price, noting that Sakimay is committed to being not just a landlord, but a partner in the development. He said Four Horse will build to suit potential tenants.

The building is currently available for occupancy as early as November, but Fiacco admitted Spring 2017 is probably more realistic.