A southern Ontario developer who has purchased several properties in Elliot Lake, which he is in the process of fixing up, has purchased the Pearson Plaza Mall and will develop the building and property.
In a telephone conversation with ElliotLakeToday, Ray Khanna, owner of Pearson Plaza Ltd., will take over the mall from the previous owner, McCowan and Associates Ltd. of Barrie. The price was not disclosed.
Khanna has purchased the Elliot Lake upper mall and is in the process of fixing it. He adds the mall to his list of properties including the former grocery store in the lower plaza and 19 home building lots in the city.
This makes him a major developer in the city.
Khanna said his company is also in talks to purchase the former civic centre lot on Highway 108, which the city recently put up for sale, and he is considering building a hotel on the site if their bid is successful.
Khanna said funding for the sale was raised by southern Ontario developments his company, Kingsway, is using for the purchase.
“We have some properties we’re moving money from and bringing to Elliot Lake,” he said.
He said the plan is to build a building for an A&W restaurant on the vacant lot as you drive into the Pearson Plaza property from Hillside Drive and possibly another business at the same location.
The tenants in the current plaza building will remain, including the Foodland grocery store, a cannabis store, the city library, a Hart store and a Dollar store.
“Pearson has good tenants,” he said. "They’re doing well, and they have a long-term lease.”
Amin Bashir, owner of Creative Glass in Elliot Lake, will be managing the property.
Khanna said work on the upper plaza building is also moving ahead with siding slowly going up after the entire building received approval from a structural engineer to move ahead with work. That approval was slowed by problems finding a structural engineer.
The plaza will have some 21 one- and two-bedroom apartments on the second floor serviced by an elevator for seniors. Some 16 businesses will be on the main floor, which now only houses The Source, a long-term tenant that moved into one of the first renovated units. Work on getting tenants continues, Khanna said.
The building, which Khanna purchased in 2012, has seen extensive renovations, with the former flat roof replaced by a sloped roof, the interior completely gutted and replaced, and the exterior undergoing replacement work.
A tenant has been found for the space in the lower plaza formerly occupied by the grocery store, but Khanna would not disclose the tenant's name.
— ElliotLakeToday
