Nearly 2.4 million square feet of discount and speciality shopping is about to arise in Metro Vancouver as Europe's largest outlet mall developer, Swedish-based IKEA and a Canadian retail giant square off in the southwest.
In Richmond, London-based McArthurGlen Group is planning a 340,000 square-foot mall on a 30-year acre site next to Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Also in Richmond, IKEA has just opened a new 334,000-square-foot mega store that replaces a smaller IKEA outlet. Further south in South Delta, Toronto-based Ivanhoe Cambridge is proceeding with the 1.2 million-square-foot Tsawwassen Mills, which will anchor the biggest shopping complex in British Columbia. Both centres will be discount-themed malls, bringing U.S.-style factory outlet retail to B.C. for the first time.
McArthurGlen's proposed mall would be off Russ Baker Way on Sea Island on federal government land leased by the airport authority. The airport, including the Russ Baker Way site, is within the traditional territory of the Musqueam First Nation. "We hope to make an official announcement in the next few months," said Lara Gerrits, who confirmed McArthurGlen and the Airport Authority are now working towards finalizing the joint-venture deal.
Gerrits declined to reveal details of the proposed mall, but McArthurGlen CEO Gary Bond told the International Council of Shopping Centres' newsletter Value Retail News (VRN) that he wants construction to start in the second half of this year and be completed by 2014.
"The advantage of Vancouver is that there is no outlet competition," he told the newsletter. "Vancouver offers a fantastic opportunity in terms of the partner, the catchment, the location, the economic strength of Vancouver and the tourism potential, in particular as the gateway to the Asian consumer."
McArthurGlen has no staff in Vancouver, but Bond said the company plans to build a Vancouver team. His company has developed 20 outlet centres in eight European countries, and the Vancouver mall will likely have similar tenants and design. Some of McArthurGlen's European malls are known for luxury brands like Hugo Boss, Prada and Calvin Klein, and retail industry insiders expect that the Vancouver mall will have a similar tenant mix.
"The proposal has gone under the radar quite effectively," said Colliers International retail specialist James Smerdon. Smerdon helped McArthurGlen respond to a YVR request for proposals to build a retail facility.He said that part of McArthurGlen's rationale for building the mall in Vancouver is that the city has fewer square feet of retail space per capita than Toronto.
Colliers statistics show that Toronto has 24.11 square feet of mall and power centre retail space per person compared with 13.73 square feet in Vancouver.
