Proposal outlines ‘fast serve restaurant’ in Little Current
LITTLE CURRENT—The Northeast Town awarded Sheppard Custom Building the tender for the sale of 65 Meredith Street, a vacant 2.2 acre commercial property near the Little Current swing bridge.
The municipality chose Sheppard Custom Building through a request for proposal process, accepting proposals on the property for commercial development of the site within eighteen months of closing.
The Northeast Town received two tenders, the first from Sheppard Custom Building for $222,000 with a proposal to build a fast serve restaurant and the second from Canadian Group Inc. for $125,000 to build a drive through restaurant.
“If awarded, the property would plan to erect a fast serve restaurant that would be utilized by the community as well as our transient visitors,” states the Sheppard Custom Building proposal. “Convenience as well as affordability is the projected aim of the service. This service will also bring employment to the Little Current area. Projected employment would be upwards of 10 employees.”
“This plan consists of three phases: June 2016, land clearing; August to December 2016, building erection and completion; and January 2017, hiring and start up,” the proposal states.
The owner/operator of Sheppard Custom Building, Rob Sheppard, notes in his proposal that he has been running his own business on Manitoulin for the past four years, as well as previously running a crew for his third generation family business.
“Being born and raised on Manitoulin Island I feel like I would love to bring something useful and novel to the Island,” says Mr. Sheppard in his proposal to the municipality. “I respect the value of employing Manitoulin Island people and always try to use local entrepreneurs as subcontractors. I think this business would be beneficial to Little Current to both our Island residents and our tourist visitors.”
The Expositor contacted Mr. Sheppard regarding the details of the new business. He said that at this time he is still in discussions and is unable to disclose any further details, however he is looking forward to sharing more details about the project in the near future.
