Developer says Midtown grocery store plans cancelled after mall terminated lease

A proposed $6-million downtown grocery store in Saskatoon isn’t happening.

That’s according to the developer, Arbutus Properties, which said its plans for a Pitchfork Market + Kitchen grocery store in Midtown Plaza were derailed when it received “an unexpected lease termination notice from the mall owners” this past Monday.

According to Arbutus, construction on the approximately 20,000-square-foot store was set to begin in January with the opening slated for late summer or early fall. All of those plans have now been cancelled.

Jeffrey Drexel, president of Arbutus, said the company is about a year behind schedule on the planned grocery store due to a focus on other projects in the city, notably affordable housing units in Rosewood that are set for completion early next year.

“We are behind in our plans for a second Pitchfork location due to our Saskatoon affordable housing initiatives, but the need and demand for us to build a downtown grocery story is strong and we were fully committed to proceeding,” Drexel said in a statement.

The developer said it tried to negotiate with Midtown, and put forward a proposal it considered fair, but according to Drexel, Midtown responded to the proposal with the lease termination notice.

“There were no discussions, no negotiations,” Drexel said.

“We see this decision by Midtown Plaza as a significant blow to the success and growth of Saskatoon’s downtown, particularly at a time when we all need more good news stories for city centres.”

Midtown issued a statement in which it explained its position.

“Unfortunately, after over two and a half years of working with Pitchfork, the tenant has failed to meet its lease obligations and will not be opening at Midtown,” the statement said.

Because the company didn’t have a backup location for the downtown store, Drexel said it will now focus its resources on the housing projects in Rosewood and other projects around the city.