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

It was actually doing quite well until around 2016 to 2018 , people actually did pay to drive downtown then for the shopping experience and there are number of people living nearby for which this remains the closest mall.

However the previous owners were not able to retain the stores that attracted people and did not seem very interested in getting new ones, so there is not much left now.

It would be good to make it more street facing, but the solution is not so much throwing a lot of money at it - the previous owners did that by shuffling things around, which was very disruptive and in the end only make things worse. It requires attention and an intelligent approach first and foremost, rather than cannibalizing one mall you own to benefit another, which was really the previous owners approach.
 
These days, the only amenity worth the trip in CCM is the Landmark Cinema, which I actually still go to regularly. (And even then, it's become apparent that Landmark is cheaping out on maintenance.) I used to like to pop into Winners from time to time, but the last few times I've gone, it's been a shadow of its former self with regards to stock and selection.
 
It was a series of unfortunate events...

1. lowest performing retail asset in Oxford's portfolio
2. little interest in reinvesting as they wanted to dispose of it
3. little (to nil) interest in buying it from others over many, many years and telling
4. Retail's continued shift to online or top tier (WEM, Southgate, SEC) locations
5. The very real impact of Kingsway
6. Increasing Downtown disorder and very significant costs to the tenant's and owner's bottom line.
 
There has been around a half a dozen various new things that have opened in this mall over the last six months or so, which I think continues to get lost in all the doom and gloom perpetrated here.

There was a series of unfortunate events, the biggest part of which were the previous owners and COVID in my opinion. There was a big hole and they are trying to recover and get out of it.

I don't expect them to be West Ed, but I do see things are improving and believe it will continue to do so. However, I realize it may take longer for negative perceptions to change.
 
David A said:
There has been around a half a dozen various new things that have opened in this mall over the last six months or so, which I think continues to get lost in all the doom and gloom perpetrated here.

There was a series of unfortunate events, the biggest part of which were the previous owners and COVID in my opinion. There was a big hole and they are trying to recover and get out of it.

I don't expect them to be West Ed, but I do see things are improving and believe it will continue to do so. However, I realize it may take longer for negative perceptions to change.
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Unfortunately, a lot of them are seasonal shops that close up after the holidays.
 
Great idea. Are there any actual plans for the mall being developed in the background that anyone knows of or is it just going to continue to limp along welcoming calendar stores and gift shops every holiday season for the next decade?
 
David A said:
It was actually doing quite well until around 2016 to 2018 , people actually did pay to drive downtown then for the shopping experience and there are number of people living nearby for which this remains the closest mall.

However the previous owners were not able to retain the stores that attracted people and did not seem very interested in getting new ones, so there is not much left now.

It would be good to make it more street facing, but the solution is not so much throwing a lot of money at it - the previous owners did that by shuffling things around, which was very disruptive and in the end only make things worse. It requires attention and an intelligent approach first and foremost, rather than cannibalizing one mall you own to benefit another, which was really the previous owners approach.
Click to expand...
Pay a visit to The Core in Calgary and then tell me that CCM doesn't need significant infrastructure investment.
 
scyeg said:
Great idea. Are there any actual plans for the mall being developed in the background that anyone knows of or is it just going to continue to limp along welcoming calendar stores and gift shops every holiday season for the next decade?
Click to expand...

The numbers simply don't work and so it is a chicken egg conundrum.

NADG, LaSalle, BVK and Canderel must be scathing their collective heads with what to do with their expensive white elephant.
 
I think there are many other less "tear-down" possibilities that are viable and desirable. Two obstacles to a cohesive downtown exist in the form of two above-surface parking structures on 103rd Avenue. These two structures need to get razed to the ground and replaced with subsurface parking structures with the potential for high-rise above ground, increasing mixed-use density. The Bay part of EEC has redevelopment potential akin to what was outlined much earlier where the ground floor is opened up to the street and where an interior atrium runs both east-west and north-south, the north-south version connecting to the ICE district at ground level and at the pedway level.
 
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