Manitoba community listing empty restaurant for sale for $1

The inside of the former M&M Café in Benito, Man. is seen in an undated image. (Bill Gade)

A Manitoba community is sweetening the deal to find a buyer to open a business in a building that has sat empty for several years.

The Municipality of Swan Valley West is selling the former M&M Cafe in the community of Benito for $1.

“Our hope is that we find somebody that would like to make a restaurant out of it again or something else,” said Bill Gade, the reeve of Swan Valley West. “We don’t mind whatever they want to make. We just would like something happening there. Nobody wants the building to be torn down.”

Gade said the café ran into issues during the COVID-19 pandemic and closed and has been sitting vacant. The municipality ended up owning it following a tax sale. Previous liens on the property have been removed, and the building has been inspected.

The municipality is accepting proposals for the building until the end of October.

“We’re going to pick the best plan,” Gade said. “We want to see somebody that has the money to fix it up or make it into something and has a plan for doing it.

“We’re not really interested in selling it to somebody for $1 and it’s sitting there for 10 years, the building slowly rotting away. We want somebody in it and using it.”

More information about the proposal can be found on the municipality’s website.