"There's still some homework to be done," Lee Greenwood, development co-ordinator with Canadian Commercial Developments, said Monday. "We're midway in the development process. We'll be in the site plan application phase soon, so we hope this development will proceed."

Norfolk planner Mary Elder confirmed that CCD has had preliminary discussions with her department about the property.

If the development proceeds, a Boston Pizza franchise would serve as the anchor tenant. Plans at this point call for 20,000 square feet of secondary retailing.

CCD will have to assemble nearly five acres before construction can begin. It accounted for a large chunk of this at the end of June when it closed a deal with a group of investors led by R.E. Mann Brokers of Simcoe for a 3.35-acre parcel. The parcel includes the Speedy muffler shop in this location.

There have been reports that Shoppers Drug Mart is a prospective tenant. Greenwood confirmed that Shoppers is just one of a number of franchise retailers who've been invited to participate.

If the development proceeds, it would represent a break-through project at Norfolk's busiest intersection.

Abandoned, derelict homes and overgrown weeds have blighted the northwest corner for years. These will be demolished if the project gets the green light.

It remains to be seen whether the property will require an environmental cleanup. Over the decades, there have been as many as five different service garages in this neighbourhood.

Interest in the property confirms that the commercial real estate market along the Queensway continues to be red hot.

Over the past two years, Norfolk has fielded development applications on the Queensway for a new Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire, an expansion to Simcoe Mall, an expansion to Zehrs, a new Tractor Supply Store (TSC), a new strip mall and the new Turkstra lumber yard off Luscombe Drive.