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

Windows and light, what a concept!

I am probably getting a bit ahead, but I wonder what this F&B (food and beverage?) means for the food court on the east side on the third floor. Maybe it means City Centre going back to having two like before, but a big further apart

That Urban Loft design reminds of a specific retailer I am sure they would love to get for that pace. I don't want to jinx it by mentioning their name, but it would be great if it happened.
 
Correct.

I just want to know where all of the mouths are going to come from...

Food Hall here
Food Hall Stantec
Food Hall Manulife (maybe)
My bet is that it'll come from all of the people who have to drive at least 10 minutes to eat a bloody McDonalds a lot of the time, if they want to.
Joking aside, it is one of those cases in which we can have supply induce demand, if the right tenants are chosen. A Rec Room, a Keg, a few signature restaurants and people will flock to the area and, as we all know, the beat driver for foot traffic is foot traffic...
 
Correct.

I just want to know where all of the mouths are going to come from...

Food Hall here
Food Hall Stantec
Food Hall Manulife (maybe)
F&B customers apparently coming from the large amount office space being created. Almost the entire 2nd and 3rd floor. The retail & F&B is essentially only on the ground floor - what there is of it. All that office space , broken into chunks or could be contiguous I am guessing. That will accommodate maybe 5-700 workers? This will provide what maybe 200,000 sq ft ? if they can find a tenant that wants this type of situation. I can see is might work for DynaLife, a medical clinic space etc. They will need lots of glazing to remove the bunker like feel. I can't see high profile professional services in there. I think overall its is interesting and I like the concept for Level 1 ground floor. As far as the other 2 floors its a snooze fest. I don't see shoppers flocking here at all. It may be that this is a strategy to relocate (some) retail from CCE so they can tackle that in a more exiting way - but I think CCE is functional the way it is ... ugly exterior but functional. My take.
 
OK -- I am going to put on my architectural critic's hat and for the time that I have on my woik-break (my wife is from NYC) I am going to throw out a few thoughts. I love the notion of breaking up the project frontage into what looks like individual stores (they could even do more of that and I wouldn't cry). I love the apparent and transparent glass roof over the mall portion -- lots of natural light and therefore lots of greenery is an excellent improvement over most Edmonton enclosed spaces. They could do with a few more indentations on the ground level streetside (especially along 102 Ave -- the pedestrian/transit corridor in the making) creating some outdoor dining spaces and better interaction with the street. I would like to see ECC demolish part of the abutting parkade on the north-west end of the project (a la Hudson) to create a hotel tower adjacent to the mall (beyond what already exists) and modify ground level elements of the existing parkade to accommodate street-facing retail. A plus-15 pedway connection to the Ice District would also help. I like scheme #1 where there are no mega-retail spaces (but the right tenant would be OK too). Instead of commercial on the south portion of level two and level three, a live-work element would be much more people friendly and would probably rent up more quickly.
In short -- a good start but room for improvement.
 
Both option are good, but I personally believe the better option would be the one with more retail on the second level. Yes, it might be a bit more work to fill it in the short term, but strategically I think City Centre needs a certain amount of retail to remain viable as a shopping destination of any sort and there really is a dearth of retail downtown generally and nearby, despite increasing residential development nearby in recent years. The vacuum will be filled eventually, if not by City Centre, then someone else.

I think the food and beverage area is very well located, close to the LRT. It will likely attract a number of additional customers by being well located and accessible. No need to take escalators up three levels to get a coffee or a snack - again, what a concept!

It would be smart to incorporate some street facing retail on the perimeter of the parkade and/or expand the existing hotel space towards the street, particularly now that the Ice District and its large buildings are just to the north. When Eaton Centre was built, it was just surface parking lots there, so the north side then was probably an after thought.
 

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