Fanshawe Park and Highbury - retail plaza (Under Construction)

[White737]

Unfortunately I think phase 2 is way Too small for Costco at 102k sq ft.

The new one in south London is 150k sq ft. The old one was 125k or so.

If the north east corner of highbury and Fanshawe was developed into retail I could see that as a new Costco with a gas bar.

I’m not sure what could go in phase 2.

[CanadianTalk]

Originally Posted by White737

Unfortunately I think phase 2 is way Too small for Costco at 102k sq ft.

The new one in south London is 150k sq ft. The old one was 125k or so.

If the north east corner of highbury and Fanshawe was developed into retail I could see that as a new Costco with a gas bar.

I’m not sure what could go in phase 2.

I found a listing a few years ago from a company that does franchising for various businesses that said Canadian Tire would be the phase 2 spot (I actually posted it in this thread on page 1), unfortunately the listing/page has since been deleted. Of course it is possible that the plans may have changed since then.

This is pure speculation on my part (no insider knowledge) but I could see Walmart relocating here up from Highbury/Huron, since that location isn’t a "Supercentre"—it has a smaller footprint, as it used to be a Zellers. All of the other Walmarts in this city are Supercentres.

[Djeffery]

Yeah, I totally agree the Northland Walmart could, and I'd guess at better than 50-50, move up here. I think the demographics would be better for them there and that old store is pretty small for them. My mom used to manage the restaurant in that old Zellers back in the 70's lol. Maybe the Northland Mall owners can knock that store down and build apartments there, or move the other businesses out from the Giant Tiger plaza into this space, and build apartments there.

I think it's funny the city didn't want an automall on this property (which ended up on Dundas St east), and then let Toyota go there and now this plaza.

[haljackey]

I call Northland Mall 'cheapskate corner'.

It contains all the discount stores. No Frills, Dollarama, Wamart, Giant Tiger, and.... another Dollarama. Yes.

[MolsonExport]

So cheapskate, they have two Dollaramas, for your shopping convenience.

[White737]

The food basics is supposed to open in one week. The lot was packed with workers. Looks like they’ve finished the new entrance to the lot off Fanshawe.

[CanadianTalk]

The Food Basics is now officially open:



Photo Credit: Westdell

[White737]

Seems like opening has gone well for food basics. Rest of the lot is slowly coming along. But still seems like it’s months until anything else opens.

[CanadianTalk]

Originally Posted by White737

Seems like opening has gone well for food basics. Rest of the lot is slowly coming along. But still seems like it’s months until anything else opens.

I really like the new Food Basics and I agree... it seems to be doing very well as they have always been busy the 5 or so times I have been. This will likely be my main grocery store going forward though I do miss the in-store bakery and deli.... so I will still likely go back to Sobeys every now and then lol.

My guess is that the Shoppers will be the next to open... they are already hiring for some positions online for the new store... plus when I went there last night, they were painting the area by the entrance doors.

And speaking of this plaza, a whole bunch of permits have been filed by McDonalds this past week (and the actual building permit was filed a couple months ago) so we will likely see construction start very soon for that.

[jammer139]

So they may actually finish building the northern half of the building on the corner finally? Kind of weird to see half a building without the foundation footings or structural steel.

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by CanadianTalk

I really like the new Food Basics and I agree... it seems to be doing very well as they have always been busy the 5 or so times I have been. This will likely be my main grocery store going forward though I do miss the in-store bakery and deli.... so I will still likely go back to Sobeys every now and then lol.

My guess is that the Shoppers will be the next to open... they are already hiring for some positions online for the new store... plus when I went there last night, they were painting the area by the entrance doors.

And speaking of this plaza, a whole bunch of permits have been filed by McDonalds this past week (and the actual building permit was filed a couple months ago) so we will likely see construction start very soon for that.

I went on the weekend- heading north on Highbury, I had to take a u-turn because there is no way to enter the plaza. You need to use the double left to Fanshawe and then turn in.

Then on the way out, I exited to Fanshawe and there's a median preventing me from turning left... so it's a little restricted/confusing to access / exit in certain directions.

The store itself I found was pretty meh. It's just a Food Basics, nothing special. But the carts are new so you won't get a bad/squeeky wheel for a while. Also only 3 regular checkout lanes and like 15 self checks. Those are annoying to use when buying certain bulky items, and you're being watched like you're a shoplifter/criminal

[CanadianTalk]

Originally Posted by haljackey

I went on the weekend- heading north on Highbury, I had to take a u-turn because there is no way to enter the plaza. You need to use the double left to Fanshawe and then turn in.

Then on the way out, I exited to Fanshawe and there's a median preventing me from turning left... so it's a little restricted/confusing to access / exit in certain directions.

The store itself I found was pretty meh. It's just a Food Basics, nothing special. But the carts are new so you won't get a bad/squeeky wheel for a while. Also only 3 regular checkout lanes and like 15 self checks. Those are annoying to use when buying certain bulky items, and you're being watched like you're a shoplifter/criminal

Yeah, until the road behind the new development (Blackwell Drive) gets extended to Highbury, the only way to turn into the plaza heading north on Highbury is to turn left at Fanshawe then right into the plaza.... however when heading out back onto Highbury, there is a Highbury entrance that can be used (but it's only a right-in/right-out)... you can also turn left on-to/from Fanshawe using the Rob Panzer entrance.... so I think the current setup is not bad once you get used to it.

[CanadianTalk]

Site-plan application has been filed for the next phase of this development, which is marked as 1B on the site-plan posted earlier (and the link below)....

https://www.westdellcorp.com/wp-content/...y-Creek-Commons-OPTION-2-SITE-PLAN-1.pdf

Lots of empty spots... the only ones listed so far are Starbucks, Dickey's BBQ Pit, 6ixty Wings, and a kebab restaurant...



Also what's interesting is that if you scroll down to page 2 of the site-plan... the Walmart/Canadian Tire-sized commercial building is no longer proposed... instead, it's a bunch of smaller retail blocks.

[jammer139]

Likely still many years away from seeing the next phase developed. The interest in opening a large store has been low as this has been marketed for well over a decade with no takers. Might that change with the current phase one progress showing future potential? Time will tell.

Still odd that they never built the foundation footings for the north half of the corner building that's supposed to be a McDonalds. They are now building a concrete block wall along the north side and have installed the windows for the south half. Why the delay?

[White737]

It seemed that the phase 2 anchor was too small for many types of stores and too large for others. But like jammer said, probably years away.

Seems like there’s lots of activity at the units along Fanshawe. Looking forward to the McDonald’s opening. Hopefully by end of August.

[jammer139]

They are making some progress on installing the exterior stone and brick and stucco for the retails buildings fronting Fanshawe. The Shoppers and Dollarama stores are still getting some exterior touch-ups as interior work continues. Likely still 4-8 weeks away from opening.

[White737]

8 weeks seems right. By September I could see both dollarama and shoppers complete and possibly some of the businesses along Fanshawe.

I’m curious to see if any restaurant goes into that drive through. Currently no restaurant is listed on westdells map.

[White737]

Interestingly there are job postings for the shoppers. One LinkedIn posting for an assistant manager position says the store will open September 2025.

[CanadianTalk]

Westdell recently updated the site-plan with lots of additions.

First, KFC will be going in the drive-through spot in the recently constructed building fronting on Fanshawe Park Road.

https://www.westdellcorp.com/wp-content/...y-Creek-Commons-OPTION-2-SITE-PLAN-1.pdf

Other additions to the site-plan include Tim Hortons, Panera Bread, Jersey Mikes Subs, and more.

[jammer139]

Looks like London first Panera Bread will be here. I kind of expected it would have been at Richmond and Sunningdale or Richmond and Fanshawe.