A prominent building in the west end of Summerside is taking on new life as real estate developments in the city continue to boom.

A group of business partners is turning the old Johnston’s Tire building, located at 30 Greenwood Dr., into 18,000 square feet of new office and retail space. 

The property was the home of a truck repair shop, which had been operational for decades, but has been vacant since last October.

Former MLA Chris Palmer, who is one of the new owners of the building, says conditions in the city are ripe for this sort of commercial real estate development.

“Summerside is booming,” Palmer said. “There’s lots going on here. The vacancy rate for commercial is three or four per cent. So there’s lots of activity here, there’s lots of new businesses open, construction is busy; all kinds of things in Summerside are busy, so I thought it was a great opportunity to help revitalize this area of Summerside.”

He said he’s signed three tenants since the property was purchased a couple of months ago. 

“The demand is there and I think as soon as we start advertising in a big way, we’ll have a lot of folks coming in,” Palmer said.

The building will be renamed as the West End Industry Centre. Palmer said they’re currently aiming to allot about 60 per cent of the building to retail, with the rest being office space.

Construction is slated to be complete in late summer.

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