New Horizon Mall: Biggest White Elephant Mall in Canada?

[Likka]

I pass by that mall everyday to work on a construction project. What a joke. The sign is covered in snow, and there may be 10 vehicles in the entire parking lot. Who is the rocket scientist who decided it would be a great idea to build a second mall outside of Calgary, within 500 metres of Crossiron Mills?

[Rollerstud98]

Before it was cold out there were probably 20-25 vehicles in the parking lot. Remember the mall has heated underground parking, probably where most people visiting now park.

[Rollerstud98]

Also, unless you are an investor, no it is not a white elephant mall. Tax payers did not pay to build it and are not on the hook if it fails.

[suburbia]

Before it was cold out there were probably 20-25 vehicles in the parking lot. Remember the mall has heated underground parking, probably where most people visiting now park.

Is the underground open to visitors now? When I had visited earlier, they were controlling the underground parking, only allowing employees.

[Jay in Cowtown]

Is it big enough to gut and build a fieldhouse out of? :haha:

[YYCguys]

Is the underground open to visitors now? When I had visited earlier, they were controlling the underground parking, only allowing employees.

With only about 65 of the 500 units open for business I’m sure that there’s room in the parkade for staff and customers of all open stores at this time! No need to restrict parking!

I noticed on Wikipedia that one of the anchors is T&T Supermarket! I wonder where it would be located?

[suburbia]

With only about 65 of the 500 units open for business I’m sure that there’s room in the parkade for staff and customers of all open stores at this time! No need to restrict parking!

I think the reason they are restricting underground parking to employees is because that way they can save money on security given the risk of vandalism for a largely empty facility.

[suburbia]

Is it big enough to gut and build a fieldhouse out of? :haha:


The footprint is likely large enough, but the tiered roof-line requires pillars, unfortunately.

[canucklehead2]

Any updates on the mall since last winter? Still a dead zone?

[Rollerstud98]

I think still below 20% of stores are filled in was the last that I heard. Have not been in myself to check it out though.

[PPAR]

Investors in this project did not get the memo about retail moving online: I cannot think of a business model more exposed to the Amazon effect than a rural destination mall of small independent shops.
"Hmm... should I drive all the way out to Balzac today, or ask the warehouse across the highway from the mall to deliver the same product to my door tomorrow for 20% less?"

[canucklehead2]

Investors in this project did not get the memo about retail moving online: I cannot think of a business model more exposed to the Amazon effect than a rural destination mall of small independent shops.
"Hmm... should I drive all the way out to Balzac today, or ask the warehouse across the highway from the mall to deliver the same product to my door tomorrow for 20% less?"

As long as the developer made a buck on building I am sure they could give two shits about filling the place. It's a shame because a building like this could create something unique and wonderful that would be different from any dying mall. Alas...

[zahav]

It was a very odd idea and yes, the owner's don't seem to really care about filling it. Usually dead malls had to have lived in order to die, this was dead on arrival

[YYCguys]

Here’s my idea for NHM: convert into a casino/bowling alley/games centre a la Century Sports or Rec Room (and perhaps a water park and/or additional ice space as we all know it’s in dire need across the region for our minor hockey and lacrosse kids).

[PPAR]

I think the property is condominiumized: Small investors actually own the stalls.

This makes any wholesale conversion difficult, which is a real shame.

[Corndogger]

I think the property is condominiumized: Small investors actually own the stalls.

This makes any wholesale conversion difficult, which is a real shame.

That's true and probably why the mall hasn't been converted into some type of major attraction/sports facility. I doubt whoever is running the mall cares as long as they're being paid.

[jc_yyc_ca]

That's true and probably why the mall hasn't been converted into some type of major attraction/sports facility. I doubt whoever is running the mall cares as long as they're being paid.

Here’s my idea for NHM: convert into a casino/bowling alley/games centre a la Century Sports or Rec Room (and perhaps a water park and/or additional ice space as we all know it’s in dire need across the region for our minor hockey and lacrosse kids).

The reason it hasn't been converted already to one of those ideas is they don't make any sense whatsoever financially. The cost of building a community arena from scratch is cheaper than it would be to covert this building into an arena. Century sports already exists just down the road, no point in building a second one. Bowling alleys and casinos are in decline.

[Corndogger]

The reason it hasn't been converted already to one of those ideas is they don't make any sense whatsoever financially. The cost of building a community arena from scratch is cheaper than it would be to covert this building into an arena. Century sports already exists just down the road, no point in building a second one. Bowling alleys and casinos are in decline.

A massive water park would be a huge hit and fit the building well. There are other things they could do as well that would be unique to the Calgary area. There's already a casino so building another one wouldn't be a good idea.

[Northern]

A massive water park would be a huge hit and fit the building well. There are other things they could do as well that would be unique to the Calgary area. There's already a casino so building another one wouldn't be a good idea.

Building a massive water park would be a huge hit - a huge financial hit for the dummy who builds it. Massive water parks aren't money makers in Canada, and trying to retrofit one into a mall would be more expensive and complicated than building one from scratch.

[Rollerstud98]

https://discoverairdrie.com/local/new-horizon-mall-hoping-for-breath-of-fresh-air-from-fresh-market

Seems some positives. Hopefully they can just keep filling in the stores.

[jc_yyc_ca]

Building a massive water park would be a huge hit - a huge financial hit for the dummy who builds it. Massive water parks aren't money makers in Canada, and trying to retrofit one into a mall would be more expensive and complicated than building one from scratch.

Exactly. The building is designed as a mall. Leave it as a mall.

[Corndogger]

https://discoverairdrie.com/local/new-horizon-mall-hoping-for-breath-of-fresh-air-from-fresh-market

Seems some positives. Hopefully they can just keep filling in the stores.

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday to hear a few ads on the radio yesterday for the mall. The market will help but I think they need another three or four "anchors" to start attracting enough people to keep the place alive.

[Socguy]

The idea for the mall was based on a successful prototype in Ontairo. The idea was essentially to combat high retail rents by offering small square footage spaces to retail operators. This way the retailers would only pay for what they really need. Because they were smaller and cheaper, the retailers would theoretically also be able to purchase their own spaces and cut out the landlord saving even more money.

What happened though was that private investors snapped up all the units then tried to profit by renting those spaces back to retailers. Unfortunately, this arrangement makes very little sense to retailers since they're now back to paying high rent. So no retailers are interested in locating there. This has caused the reputation of the place to tank further discouraging business to move in and the downward spiral continued.

tldr; Everybody wanted to be the landlord and nobody wanted to run the store.