It took years but they finally found a suitable and ideally located property for a major shopping centre to serve the Lower Mainland and beyond.
That’s what Daniel Fournier, chairman and CEO of Ivanhoe Cambridge, had to say about building a destination mall at the Tsawwassen First Nation.
At a Vancouver Board of Trade presentation a couple of years ago, Fournier described the long-term lease with the TFN as historic for his company, which had over $40 billion in assets and is aiming for $60 billion in the next four years. Fournier also spoke highly of the company’s relationship with the TFN.
He told the Optimist they had their sights set on the Vancouver area for long time, but the land was simply not available, either close to Vancouver or in the suburbs.
"I think we looked at just about everywhere. It was very difficult," said Fournier, noting the company was running across the same problem in Quebec.
Ivanhoe Cambridge is behind the huge CrossIron Mills shopping mall north of Calgary and Vaughan Mills outside of Toronto, both of which will act as a model for Tsawwassen Mills, which is set to open Oct. 5 after more than two years of construction.
Fournier explained Tsawwassen Mills will be a "hybrid" shopping centre, offering something not typically found in other malls in the region. It will have a mix of fashion brands and factory outlets as well as restaurants and a 1,100-seat food hall.
About 20 per cent of its customer base is expected to be tourists.
It was the same message delivered to the Delta Chamber of Commerce by CrossIron Mills general manager James Moller, who described his mall as a “hybrid" shopping centre.
"It's the best of retail in terms of bringing in those international, regional, local players," he said. "They may be full price, they may be factory, they may be outlet, they may be discount."
CrossIron Mills opened its relocated 1,400-seat food hall this summer. Moving the mall’s food court allowed for the second phase of a $60-million redevelopment plan, which will see more stores added.
Tsawwassen Mills, a 200-store, 1.2-million-square-foot mall, will open Oct. 5.
