So is New Horizon Mall in Calgary already a dead mall?
I haven't been to Pacific Mall in 10 years but I remember it being a zoo in the parking lot. My grandmother used to live a couple minutes drive from there. And I still pass by once a year or so.
Pacific is well located as it's in a densely populated Asian area on the Markham/Scarboro border. It seems this New Horizon is well out of the city meaning it would need to be a destination mall, which I don't picture glorified flea markets being, unlike premium outlets. And this is the same developer as Pacific Mall!
I'm sure this has already been discussed on the Calgary forum but could this mall be dead before it even comes to life? I hope not. I'd genuinely feel bad for the investors of these condo retail units.
I kind of felt bad for a lot of the regular joes who dropped huge deposits on the stupid Trump Tower condo/hotel units in Toronto. A lot got duped by having that name alone, but the lesson is, you can't always buy into the hype and put all your eggs in one basket. At least that building is no longer Trump and is being re-branded The Regis. I think it's mostly full, but have no idea if the original investors found any recourse or salvaged something.
Not much has changed inside the mall since this photograph was taken in May 2018. JIM WELLS / POSTMEDIA
Quote:
The developer of a nearly empty new mall just north of Calgary says he’s confident it will become the bustling Asian-style bazaar it is meant to be despite having to delay its late-October grand opening until sometime next year.
Only nine of 517 retail spaces in New Horizon Mall have opened for business since owners were allowed to take possession in May, said Eli Swirsky, president of The Torgan Group of Toronto.
“I love the mall. I think the mall will be fine,” he said in an interview. “I wish it was faster, of course, but every time I go there I’m awed by its size and potential and I think we’ll get there.
“I’m not at all giving up. I think everyone will be happy.”
He said he expects there to be 20 stores open by the end of September but wouldn’t commit to a grand opening date, saying it will be set when a “critical mass” of 80 to 100 stores are open, possibly by year-end but more likely next spring.
The optimistic outlook stands in contrast to the eerily empty glass cubicles and “For Lease” signs in the freshly painted mall located south of the always-crowded CrossIron Mills outlet shopping centre that opened in 2009.
Delaying the grand opening is a good idea given the mall’s deserted shops, said Rami Tawil of Silk Road Importers, a retailer of men’s and women’s undergarments from the Middle East. He moved to Canada from Syria three years ago and is leasing his small space from its owner.
“I think now it’s better if we push it a couple of months because we need more stores here to open,” he said. “We need the people coming to see more stores.”
The New Horizon Mall is modelled on The Torgan Group’s Pacific Mall in the Toronto area that opened about 20 years ago.
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https://calgaryherald.com/business/l...remains-upbeat
The New Horizon Mall, photographed on May 3, 2018. JIM WELLS/POSTMEDIA