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Kaufman declined to say whether Dream Development has struck a deal with the furniture powerhouse, but noted that his company’s Holmwood development west of Highway 5 will be the largest “regional centre” in Saskatoon and will draw tenants looking to expand into Saskatchewan.

Kaufman said “every tenant, including (Ikea), will be a prime candidate for this site.”

Ikea Canada declined multiple interview requests. In an emailed statement, the company’s corporate press officer Stephanie Kerr said it “wouldn’t be fair” to comment since all of the company’s new locations are under negotiations, and that “at this time, there are no plans to open a store in Saskatoon.”

The furniture giant’s plan to double its Canadian store count has reignited rumours that a Saskatoon store could be on the horizon. Apart from the Holmwood sector, there are several places where it — or other major big box stores — could be located.

Arbutus Properties’ Meadows Market is a vast retail zone in the Rosewood neighbourhood. It was previously rumoured to be the future site of Saskatoon’s second Costco store — rumours the developer confirmed in May 2015.

However, the Vancouver-based developer flatly denied Ikea will build a store in Meadows Market. “Arbutus (P)roperties has never pursued Ikea, nor have they had any past or current discussions with the company in regards to coming to Saskatoon,” the company said through a spokeswoman.

Another potential location is Blairmore Station, an undeveloped parcel of land south of Highway 14 and west of the Betts Avenue Wal-Mart. The project is in the “very preliminary stages of concept planning” and it will be several years before development begins in earnest, according to the city’s director of land.

“Any time you get into a retail project of this magnitude, you want to have an anchor (tenant),” Frank Long said. “But that’s likely something that will be determined way down the road here, when we start releasing some of the land parcels to market.”

— With Canadian Press files

amacpherson@postmedia.com

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