Construction of a $200-million commercial development in LaSalle is officially underway.
A ground-breaking ceremony of the 25-acre development called The Shoppes at Heritage took place on Thursday morning.
The D'Amore Group and Petretta Construction have teamed up for the development at the corner of Heritage Drive and Sandwich West Parkway which will offer just over 250,000 square feet of retail services.
A wide range of stores will be included in the project including LaSalle's first McDonald's location, Tim Hortons, Food Basics, Dollarama, Shoppers Drug Mart, Taco Bell, Pet Valu, among many others.
This project will be done in two phases, with the retail portion being completed first and a hotel development to be included in phase two.
Scott D'Amore, President of the D'Amore Group, says things will be moving quickly.
"You're going to see a couple of things hopefully open before the end of the year, but the majority of the things here in I'll call it phase 1A will be open in spring of next year, you'll see that spring, maybe leaking into summer. And then the remainder of phase one you'll see throughout the remainder of 2026."
He says residents will be able to walk here to get everything they need.
"You're going to have medical, you're going to have service, you're going to have a mix of sit down and quick service restaurants, the grocery store, the drug store, everything you could really look to need. So it truly is the type of project that transforms a community."
D'Amore says he believes they'll stay on budget of the $200-million despite the tariffs by the U.S. on steel and aluminum imports.
"So we were really proactive with the sub-trades, and with the vendors out there to get creative and let's work and see one, how much of the materials can we make sure they're made in Canada. If they're made in Canada then none of the crap that they're spewing affects us. And for the ones that it does potentially affect, let's get it purchased and in here right now while we have a firm price."
D'Amore says in terms of the hotel, the group will be going to town council for review in 2026 with a goal to start construction in 2027.
The development is expected to generate around 400 to 500 jobs.