If all goes well, 2020 will be the year when the new KFC and Starbucks outlets will be built in Yellowknife.
After plans to begin building a KFC-Starbucks-Taco Bell plaza didn't come to fruition in 2019, brand owner Soul Foods Group said the project is back on track.
“We expect things to move this summer,” Bryan Long, director of development and construction at Soul Foods Group, told Yellowknifer.
“We've gone back and re-examined our development. We're talking to the city about site plan approval on a revised site plan. We're expecting comments from them momentarily.”
Taco Bell was dropped from the project and it will now comprise one building with KFC and Starbucks, to be built at the lot on 251 Old Airport Rd.
Long said construction can start as soon as the weather warms up and hopes it can be completed by October or early December at the latest.
He said it was too early to comment on when the fried chicken restaurant and cafe will open for customers.
A building contractor hasn't been found yet and the construction budget is confidential, Long said.
“We're really anxious to get moving and get opened in Yellowknife. We think there's a good solid business base for us up there and we're doing everything we can to get going.”
Clark Builders is no longer the project manager for the site and a new one is yet to be determined.
However, Guy Architects is still being contracted for the design and layout.
“We're now getting all of our permits ready. (The site) will have a new access road off Old Airport Rd. There will be parking to the left of the site, the building will be in the centre. To the right will be a drive through for those who want to pick up and go,” said Wayne Guy of the architecture firm.
“We'll have one two-way access road going into the site. There'll be a little median that separates incoming from outgoing traffic.”
The City of Yellowknife had not responded to an inquiry from Yellowknifer on the status of the project by press time.
The vacant lot at 251 Old Airport Road, just across the street from Trevor's Your Independent Grocer was valued at $2 million as of last summer and was owned by Soul Real Estate Inc.