The lands south of St. Albert’s Apex Casino might soon be sold to a prominent Edmonton developer.

Mike Keating of Colliers International told the Gazette Friday that an Edmonton-area developer had signed a tentative agreement to buy 57 of the roughly 60 acres south of the Apex Casino this week. Those lands are owned by Bruce and Terry McPherson and have been vacant for decades.

“We just got this signed yesterday,” said Keating, who is acting as an agent on behalf of the McPhersons. The deal is still contingent on various legal conditions being resolved. “There’s a lot of work to be done, but we’re really optimistic this will conclude and that it’ll be great for St. Albert.”

The land in question is framed by Boudreau Road, Campbell Road, Veness Road and Anthony Henday Drive. It’s been vacant for years, with former site owner Qualico proposing to build everything from a high-tech urban village to an arena on the spot.

Bruce McPherson, who also owns Apex Casino, said that he was looking to sell about 57 acres of this plot, with the remaining three being held back for a future hotel or expansion to the casino.

In February 2011, an open house held by ISL Engineering & Land Services proposed building two blocks of townhouses and a T-shaped urban village on the land, with the remaining 40 per cent of it dedicated to commercial purposes.

The landowners and the potential buyer have since dropped that idea as unfeasible, Keating said, and plan to keep the land zoned as light industrial. If serviced and developed, it would become home to a mix of warehouses, retail space and offices similar to what you’d find along 170th Street in Edmonton.

Keating would not disclose the name of the potential buyer, saying only that it was “a very well known and respected developer” active in the Edmonton region making a “substantial” offer. The buyer planned to spend roughly $20 million developing the site, he added.

All they have at this point is an offer on the table, McPherson emphasized, and they’ve had buyers withdraw offers before. “It’s way too early to get excited about anything.”

It will likely be at least two months before the buyer makes a final decision, he continued. “These things take a lot of time.”

Assuming the deal goes through, Keating said, construction on the site could start as early as next summer, with lots open for sale by next fall.

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