The new owner of a Petrolia plaza development hopes to have construction complete by March.
Hardeep Grewal took over the development from Wayne Zhang. Zhang received approval for the plaza in May 2019. It had been in the works for a year already. At the time, he expected the car wash, gas bar, variety store and McDonald’s to open by Dec. 2020.
But delays in planning a turn lane on the corner of Petrolia Line and Oil Heritage Road to get access to the plaza stalled. By July, Zhang had hoped to begin building by late summer, but construction crews only began digging last week.
Petrolia officials welcomed the new developer and had a chat with Grewal at the site Friday.
“I was approached by McDonald’s with this opportunity,” says Grewal, noting there had been “complications” with the previous developer. When Grewal took over, all the necessary approvals were in place, so they only needed a local contractor to take on the job.
“Our plan is by March, that’s our commitment to McDonald’s,” says Grewal. “This is all depends on as you know we are getting into winter …and you know always it is just a little tentative time; it is always beyond that.”