![A Wellington Street site could be the new home of Launceston's first Nando's store. Pictures by Paul Scambler, Google Maps A Wellington Street site could be the new home of Launceston's first Nando's store. Pictures by Paul Scambler, Google Maps](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/H9AemfQ3cDaTrBwqEFxwv/65fbdcd3-d86a-40ca-9f70-a5f27e3b318c.jpg/r0_0_1760_990_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Supermarket giant Coles may hold the key to unlocking Launceston's first Nando's store.
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Development plans submitted to City of Launceston council in late 2021 noted a "proposed Nando's" on the corner of Wellington and Canning streets.
A 1200 square metre store appeared to include a drive-through facility, and was one of three new tenancies proposed to replace buildings between 85 to 93 Canning Street and 104 to 116 Wellington Street.
In the 18 months since, a red sign outside the former Grubb's Bodyworks - 'it's coming' - has been the only indication of movement at the site, and Nando's has kept quiet about opening a third Tasmanian store.
Knight Frank Launceston's Rob Dixon wouldn't reveal whether Nando's would be part of the final make-up, but confirmed the development was still going ahead.
"There's certainly a number of national tenants who have lodged their interest in the location, but at this stage we haven't finalised the exact development," Mr Dixon said.
"There have been multiple national tenants [interested] and Nando's are certainly interested in getting into Launceston."
![The Wellington Street Coles. Picture by Paul Scambler The Wellington Street Coles. Picture by Paul Scambler](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/H9AemfQ3cDaTrBwqEFxwv/aa5c2327-90f6-47eb-a812-b63395726d07.jpg/r0_0_6960_3929_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A neighbouring supermarket has indirectly contributed to the hold-up at the site.
The developer understands Coles may be planning to refurbish its Wellington Street store, which sits four blocks down from a more modern Woolworths supermarket and is due for an update.
"The owner of the Wellington Street [site] is understanding what the development's going to look like with Coles and whether there's any synergies of traffic movement and pedestrian movement between the two sites," Mr Dixon said.
"So the developer has still got a bit of an open mind to the tenant mix, the style of development, and whether it may be incorporated into the redevelopment of the Coles.
"We would hope that the developer will finalise things in the next six months and then we'll be able to start locking tenants away."
Asked whether it was planning an upgrade of its Wellington Street store, Coles remained coy.
"Coles is constantly evaluating our store network to ensure we are delivering the best shopping experience for customers," a Coles spokesperson said.
"We'll be sure to keep the Tasmanian community informed of any future plans for a local supermarket or upgrades to our network."
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