IKEA to anchor high-end retail complex
Sod turned for huge Seasons of Tuxedo development
By: Bartley Kives
21/11/2009 7:50 AM | Comments: 0
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Seasons of Tuxedo, shown in drawings, is touted as ‘unique’ shopping centre.
ALTHOUGH Winnipeg won't be getting a domed stadium, the city can look forward to a mall beneath some form of dome.
The latest site design for the IKEA-led Seasons of Tuxedo development diverges slightly from the big-box norm, as a high-concept mall with 150,000 square feet of space protected from the elements is planned for the north side of Sterling Lyon Parkway.
The mall is part of a 1.5-million-square-foot commercial development that formally got underway at a Friday-morning sod-turning ceremony attended by Premier Greg Selinger, Mayor Sam Katz and co-developers IKEA Canada and Fairweather Properties.
Michael Nozick, Fairweather's president, said the shopping centre is being designed with landscaping and other features to minimize the effects of a Winnipeg winter.
"If I used the word 'dome,' that would be a little bit of an exaggeration. That's close, (as) it will be out of the effects of winter," he said.
Just like David Asper's Creswin Properties, which is trying to assemble tenants for an upscale mall called The Elms at Polo Park, Fairweather wants to create some form of shopping destination that will be unique in the Winnipeg market and draw in tourists from across Manitoba and neighbouring states and provinces.
"This won't be just a strip mall. This will be something far more exciting," Nozick said. "It will be a form of mall unique to anywhere. I don't think it's in North America, what we're planning."
But he also claimed Seasons of Tuxedo is not competing directly with The Elms, a smaller project whose success hinges on Creswin's ability to land higher-end department stores as anchor tenants.
"If they can get that upper-end retail segment to come to Winnipeg, that's tremendously beneficial for our city. We're not talking to Nordstrom or Nieman Marcus. They're not on our agenda at all," Nozick said.
"I don't see us as competitive. Their project has its issues and they'll have to deal with those. We have IKEA."
The 350,000-square-foot IKEA store that will serve as the anchor tenant at Seasons of Tuxedo is now slated to open no earlier than 2012, Nozick said. Retailers in other components of the development may open sooner, he added.
He declined to name any specific retailers, but pledged to announce some names in 2010.
Mayor Katz, however, has one name on his wish list.
"It's called Justice. They make children's clothing," said the father of two.
Water and sewer work on the Seasons of Tuxedo development will begin next week, followed by roadwork in 2010.