Posted May 30, 2009, 4:27 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Vancouver
Posts: 341
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Regarding that shopping centre that I discovered a few nights ago, the Abbotsford News just published an article about it. I didn't realize how large it was going to be... and I'm really excited because it's MY side of town!
Quote:
Huge shopping centre planned
By Neil Corbett - Abbotsford News
A new commercial development planned for a site beside the Mt. Lehman interchange will be comparable in size to the Sevenoaks Shopping Centre.
The mega project was revealed by Mayor George Peary on Thursday, during his first annual mayor’s breakfast at the Ramada Plaza and Conference Centre.
Listing the signs of prosperity in Abbotsford in a state of the union address, Peary highlighted a new 590,000-square-foot, $170-million Shape Properties development at the Mt. Lehman interchange.
“It’s huge,” said city economic development manager Jay Teichroeb of the new project, dubbed Abby Lane. “It’s huge in terms of being a regional retail draw, and in serving the needs of local consumers.”
He said the developers are bringing “leading edge retail concepts,” and the 20-acre Abby Lane will be an outdoor shopping area, rather than a covered mall.
Shape partner Darren Kwiatkowski said Abby Lane should be ready for occupancy by fall of 2011. Construction will take between 18 months and two years. The site is north of the freeway, and east of Mt. Lehman.
“It’s an extremely exciting opportunity,” he said, noting that from Hope to the Port Mann Bridge there will be no commercial development of this scale with close freeway access.
Kwiatkowski said the developers originally considered a smaller scale project at the site, but feedback from their potential retail tenants indicated “the more, the better.”
They have included a hotel, restaurants and are dealing with movie theatres. He said the warm weather of the Lower Mainland lends itself well to restaurant patios and outdoor shopping.
The site will feature an anchor tenant with a 156,000-sq.ft. building – which would be the largest retail store in the city. There will also be numerous small and medium-sized retailers.
Parking will be under the buildings – although Kwiatkowski says it’s not technically underground, because the tiering on the site means that the parking will be covered, but open at one side. Locally, the shopping centre will have access from Cardinal Avenue and MacClure Road.
Kwiatkowski said Shape has about 15 commercial developments across the province, but said “this is the most aggressive we’ve been involved in.”
The appearance has been modeled after similar developments in the U.S. Rather than having a “strip mall” appearance, where every business has the same style of awning, the Abby Lane businesses will have more variety, but a common style. “It’s more of a main street style of design,” he said.
The project is near approval by council, having reached third reading.
Teichroeb said the development will make Abbotsford more of a shopping destination for people from other communities, and will mean fewer retail dollars “leaking out of your community.”
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