The South Delta business scene is starting to get a clearer picture of what it faces with the massive influx of retail coming next year.
As construction continues on Tsawwassen Mills at the Tsawwassen First Nation, Property Development Group, the developer behind the adjacent Tsawwassen Commons mall, has a website (tsawwassencommons.ca) that's been quietly up and running with information on the layout, the latest tenants as well as just how many retailers are planned.
Walmart and Rona were confirmed as anchor tenants last year, but the website now shows retailers such as Canadian Tire, Petsmart, Mark's Work Wearhouse and Dollarama have also signed.
As well, there are a number of eating establishments on board, including Menchies, Triple O's, Starbucks, Tim Hortons and Quiznos.
Of the more than 100 retail spaces in Tsawwassen Commons, over 30 others have leases "pending" while the remainder are termed as "available."
Those new businesses will be on top of the approximately 200 stores that will be part of Ivanhoe Cambridge's Tsawwassen Mills, a fashion-oriented destination mall.
Tsawwassen Commons is being marketed to potential tenants as being located in an area with an "affluent population" and within a 21-minute drive of more than 214,000 people.
While the construction of Tsawwassen Mills, which will comprise over 1.2 million-square feet of retail space, is well underway, construction of Tsawwassen Commons, comprising 550,000 square feet of outdoor space, will start this spring. It will be ready in time for the May 2016 grand opening of both malls, said Property Development Group chair Laurence Rank.
Rank said filling up mall space with tenants, especially national retailers, can be a long process, more so when the mall hasn't been built yet, but all signs are looking good for the vacancies to be filled.
"If it's too long a period of time before it's open, it's too early for them to get interested in sitting down and negotiating with you. We're satisfied and got enough attention," he said. "The thing that we're mostly satisfied with is all our demographic homework. We know the demand is there for what we're doing and we know the tenant interest is strong. The challenge is to get it all over the goal line and put pen to paper."
Rank noted the mall will be complementary to Tsawwassen Mills, which is fashion-oriented, while Tsawwassen Commons will have other products and services.
Tsawwassen Mills, which is being modeled after CrossIron Mills north of Calgary and Vaughan Mills in Greater Toronto, is part of Ivanhoe Cambridge's determined retail expansion worldwide. The company plans to invest more than $60 million to add 46,000 square feet of retail space at CrossIron Mills, which only opened a few years ago.
