Edmonton City Centre Mall (Renovations) | ?m | 2s | LaSalle Investment Management

[Edmcowboy11]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the covered space above used to just have bulkheads covering where I'm assuming will become windows?

 

[archited]

^^^^ Per renderings...

 

[David A]

I think this looks good. First of all, it really stands out and second it is an nice way of modernizing that corner of City Centre.

The current branch is like it tucked away or subsumed into the mall, but it really does dominate that corner and this shows that.

 

[Gronk!]

Suzy Shier has shut down. I doubt Pressd will open again. Took a walk through the mall and it was like a ghost town.

 

[Airboy]

yup I am amazed any store is still there.

 

[KreationYEG]

 

[CplKlinger]

yup I am amazed any store is still there.

It makes me surprised that they're going for a renovation of the mall itself, rather than a complete redevelopment into a mixed-use transit-oriented-development a la Bonnie Doon.

 

[The_Cat]

I think the clients renting space in the towers still have employees shop there.

 

[northlands]

It makes me surprised that they're going for a renovation of the mall itself, rather than a complete redevelopment into a mixed-use transit-oriented-development a la Bonnie Doon.

I would be incredibly curious as to LaSalle’s strategy with this asset. Part of me thinks they purchased it for the opportunity to own large tracts of land dead-centred in Edmonton’s downtown for speculative purposes and the renovations are just to limp it along for another decade or two before serving it up to a developer or two.

 

[CaptainBL]

I would be incredibly curious as to LaSalle’s strategy with this asset. Part of me thinks they purchased it for the opportunity to own large tracts of land dead-centred in Edmonton’s downtown for speculative purposes and the renovations are just to limp it along for another decade or two before serving it up to a developer or two.

I've had the same thought. They bought this asset in 2019 so over two years ago. In September last year they released some "World Class" renderings but so far without any actual details released and / or timelines I am very skeptical this will see a complete 180 from dead ugly mall status to "World Class" anything.

 

[archited]

^^^^ Once Development Permit Drawings (concepts are released with attendant renderings) it takes anywhere from 8 to 16 months to prepare and submit construction documents. Insofar as we are only on month 7 a little patience is needed to allow the company to complete the next step.

 

[IanO]

I am of the belief that LaSalle honestly didn't know just how bad the environment/crime/disorder is within and around the mall and did not expect so many stores to be on the way out when they first took over. Curious about their due diligence on the mall side of things. Certainly the other parts of the deal are relatively strong assets and the opportunity to acquire that much land in the core of the core was attractive, but did they understand their retail purchase, me thinks not.

 

[David A]

I am of the belief LaSalle didn't know about COVID and how bad it would be. Of course, hindsight is always 20/20.

I go through the mall regularly and honestly the crime/disorder situation doesn't seem any worse than most big cities. It is actually better than a number of other locations downtown, perhaps partly because they have quite a security contingent.

Certain entrances are kind of sketchy, but I when I went through yesterday I was surprised to see how many people were there in the mid afternoon and not one I saw looked like a criminal. The work at office crowd is coming back and that should help this mall quite a bit.

 

[BASE]

When my office was downtown I loved having the mall as a lunchtime amenity to pop over and pick up something from Winners or Club Monaco at lunch. I know no one predicted COVID but I never would have thought with a new tram line set to open outside the mall in the next year and the Ice district (Phase 1) almost complete that the City center mall would be at such an abysmal level of retail. Other than a monumental investment in the property in the form of a renovation, advertisement, and retailer incentives, I don't know what can save this thing.

 

[Greenspace]

I have to think LaSalle purchased the property with redevelopment intensions. Oxford had a lot of disorder problems already, LaSalle would have been made aware. HBC hasn't paid it's lease in some time already at that point and LaSalle would also have know this. However agreed that no one could have predicted the affect of COVID closures.

I think they're going to have to consolidate what they have left to the East side, keep only parts of the pedway open/hoard the rest until redevelopment. There's just too much empty space to manage from a safety perspective. I can't see Shoppers EEC West staying open with a new Loblaws and existing Shoppers on the east side. Everything else could be moved.