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RioCan and Bayview Realty Development are hoping to capitalize on the incoming Valley Line LRT by redeveloping the Mill Woods Town Centre, opening up the possibility for a pedestrian-friendly reinterpretation of the classic suburban shopping mall. Following an initial public consultation last May, a second open house was held on March 16, giving attendees a glimpse of what the lands could look like in the near future.
A rezoning application has been submitted to the City, requesting a change from the current CSC (Shopping Centre zone) designation to a DC1 (Direction Development Control Provision zone) designation. The updated zoning would allow the site to transition from a low-density shopping mall into a more urban-minded, high-density, and mixed-use hub. Most of the intensification would be situated near the future Mill Woods LRT station and transit terminal, the southern terminus in the under-construction Valley Line LRT project.
The current plans are nothing short of ambitious. The existing shopping mall, grocery store, three-storey office building, gas bar, and retail pads would be largely replaced by a new neighbourhood of up to 1,750 residential units, provided in row houses, mid-rise buildings, and highrise buildings. There would be up to 750,000 square feet of commercial space — an increase of 250,000 square feet — and a new network of roads and laneways designed in accordance with the City's Complete Street Guidelines.
The built form, site design, and land uses of the development would align with the principles described in the Transit-Oriented Development Guidelines. A surfeit of green spaces would be spread across the site, while developers eye a potential relocation of the Mill Woods ETS bus terminal closer to the future LRT station on 28 Avenue. Instead of a crowded pedestrian island surrounded by vast expanses of road and concrete, they envision a transit terminal that is inherently tied to the urban fabric of the planned residential and retail buildings.
Planner Armin Preiksaitis, speaking to the Edmonton Journal, expects a long-term phased approach to the development. Because there are lengthy leases attached to the mall, the shopping centre will likely remain unchanged for the next decade, though highrise towers could be accommodated close the LRT station sooner.
Though it's still too early in the design process for the proponents to unveil renderings or elevation sketches, RioCan has cited Toronto's The Well, one of the company's in-progress developments, as inspiration. That project features a number of towers arranged among a network of retail-lined pedestrian pathways.
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