Its uniqueness will draw shoppers from far and wide.
Tsawwassen Mills general manager Mark Fenwick had that to say about his new mall during a presentation at the South Delta Probus Club on Wednesday.
Fenwick talked about what to expect from the Ivanhoé Cambridge shopping centre project, which is based on the company's huge CrossIron Mills mall outside of Calgary and Vaughan Mills in the Greater Toronto area.
"It's a first and very unique to the market. It's going to draw shoppers from the entire region, and when I say region, it's the whole of Greater Vancouver, Vancouver Island, northern Washington State, the Interior of B.C.," he said. "This is a shopping centre that will have people drive upwards of two-and-a-half hours to come and visit."
Located at the Tsawwassen First Nation, just off Highway 17A and 52nd Street, the new mall is slated to open Oct. 5. Having 200 stores including 16 anchors, Tsawwassen Mills will be mostly a fashion oriented centre with a mix of outlet and other retailers, but it will also have a wide range of other products and services to enhance the shopping experience. Also having a 1,100-seat food court, the 1.2-million-square-foot indoor mall will sit next door to Tsawwassen Commons, a 550,000-square-foot outdoor shopping centre with approximately 100 tenants, including Walmart, Canadian Tire and Rona. The two malls will have a combined footprint almost identical to Metrotown.
Noting 18 to 20 per cent of the customers will come from outside the trade area, including tourists and shoppers from other parts of the province, Fenwick explained the layout of the $600 million Mills mall with its different themed areas is something different than what other regional malls offer.
For the Mills, the only two confirmed tenants, so far, are a Bass Pro Shops and a Saks OFF 5TH store. The Bass Pro Shops was said to be opening this May, in advance of the rest of the mall. However, that's now changed as Fenwick told the Probus audience it may open two or three weeks in advance.
As to why other tenants haven't been announced yet, he noted they'll only be announced as part of a competitive and strategic process.
Meanwhile, according to Ivanhoé Cambridge, construction is proceeding on schedule for the fall opening.
Roof and skylight installations are now complete, along with paving of the 6,000-stall parking lot. Crews have also installed parking lot lighting.
The custom exterior for anchor tenant Bass Pro Shops is also nearly complete and interior tenant improvements will soon begin throughout the mall. Power and water are also now functional within the entire centre.
Work in the next few months includes completing the mall's exterior finishes as well as interior finishes and entranceways.
Roadwork is also continuing with the majority of the remaining work to take place west of the 48th Street intersection.
