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Posted Aug 11, 2009, 1:01 PM
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Join Date: May 2007
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Quote:
Mall owner plans $200M expansion
Seeks rezoning that would put St. Laurent Shopping Centre in Top 10
By Don Butler, The Ottawa CitizenAugust 11, 2009
OTTAWA — A proposed $200-million-plus expansion could make the St. Laurent Shopping Centre a “major powerhouse” within Canada’s retail industry, says the company that owns the 42-year-old mall.
Morguard Investments has filed a rezoning application with the City of Ottawa seeking the expansion, which would boost the centre’s gross leasable area to about 1.3 million square feet from 971,000 square feet.
That would catapult St. Laurent, Ottawa’s largest mall, into 10th place on the list of Canada’s biggest malls. St. Laurent, with 195 stores, is currently No. 27.
But bulking up isn’t the rationale for the expansion, Scott MacDonald, Morguard’s vice-president of retail, said Monday. Rather, it’s to make St. Laurent “the best it can possibly be.”
“There’s tremendous potential to enhance that property,” he said. “It could be a major powerhouse in the retail industry here in Canada.”
Morguard’s proposal comes as Bayshore Shopping Centre gears up to challenge a city zoning bylaw that prevents it from growing much beyond its present size. The Ontario Municipal Board is scheduled to hear the case in October.
Bayshore’s owner, Ivanhoe Cambridge, has proposed a $130-million expansion that would add up to 150,000 square feet of retail and concourse space and 421 new parking spaces to the mall.
A third Ottawa mall, the Rideau Centre, dropped a proposal for expansion in 2006, but expects to proceed with one within three to five years, according to general manager Cindy Vanbuskirk.
“We have two prime development sites in the heart of the nation’s capital, and we will definitely be developing them at some point,” she said.
Morguard’s plan for St. Laurent calls for the Sears store to be replaced by a two-storey, 164,500-square-foot store west of the current site.
As well, there would be two additional 80,000-square-foot retail tenants. They’ve been identified, but MacDonald said it was premature to reveal them. The plan also calls for a further 233,700 square feet for smaller retailers, connecting the new Sears store to the mall.
To accommodate the proposed development, Coventry Road’s north-south section would have to be realigned about 120 metres to the west.
Though MacDonald conceded “the economy’s obviously fairly soggy on the retail side,” he pointed out that it takes years to bring such projects to fruition.
If Morguard gets the necessary approvals, construction would likely begin in 2012, MacDonald said. The expansion would be built in two or three phases, with completion between 2014 and 2015.
Even in today’s weak economic economy, MacDonald said, “St. Laurent is such a highly performing centre, there is a significant pent-up demand for quality retail space.”
Michael Polowin, a lawyer who specializes in municipal planning law and commercial real estate, saw nothing unusual about St. Laurent and Bayshore proposing major expansions in a recession.
“This is an extraordinary stable economy, the tech meltdown notwithstanding,” he said. “People are still spending money, and they’re borrowing money. It’s just a very different economy.”
He pointed out that the Rideau Centre opened in 1983, at the tail end of a nasty recession. “And it set North American sales records.”
Barry Nabatian, general manager of Market Research Corp., said Ottawa remains under-serviced des-pite the rapid expansion of retail outlets in recent years.
Once shoppers from Gatineau have been factored in, Ottawa should be able to support retail spending of $35 per square foot per person, Nabatian said. But spending currently stands at just under $32 per square foot per capita, he said.
Nabatian said many government workers, who usually have good, stable incomes, live east of the Rideau River, and the population there has been growing rapidly.
For them, St. Laurent is a natural place to shop, but the mall is often overcrowded, Nabatian said. “They really need some more retail facilities and more space for people to walk and socialize.”
He said enclosed malls like St. Laurent and Bayshore have a bright future because aging consumers prefer them to open-air “power centres” such as Kanata’s Centrum.
“They’d much rather go to an enclosed shopping mall because it’s convenient, it’s warm, it’s cool in the summer, there’s food, there’s entertainment,” Nabatian said.
The planning and environment committee is to consider Morguard’s rezoning application Oct. 27.
A spokesman for the vacationing Jacques Legendre — who represents the ward — said the councillor plans to hold public consultations on the proposed St. Laurent expansion.
Top 10 Canadian shopping malls, by size
1. West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton, 3.8 million square feet, 800+ stores
2. Metropolis at Metrotown, Burnaby, B.C., 1.783 million square feet, 470 stores
3. Eaton Centre, Toronto, 1.722 million square feet, 330 stores
4. Square One, Mississauga, 1.614 million square feet, 360 stores
5. Yorkdale, Toronto, 1.404 million square feet, 260 stores
6. Galeries de la Capitale, Quebec City, 1.4 million square feet, 280 stores
7. Pacific Centre, Vancouver, 1.39 million square feet, 250 stores
8. Carrefour Laval, Laval, 1.318 million square feet, 300+ stores
9. Scarborough Town Centre, 1.307 million square feet, 220 stores
10. Laurier Quebec, Quebec City, 1.25 million square feet, 300 stores
Where St. Laurent Shopping Centre ranks: At 971,000 square feet and 195 stores, St. Laurent is the 27th largest shopping mall in Canada. After expansion, it will be the 10th largest, with about 1.3 million square feet of gross leasable space.
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
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