The $500M Sherway Gardens redevelopment is the single-largest investment owner Cadillac Fairview has ever made in an existing property, with a 210k SF expansion and extensive renovations that'll propel Sherway into the super-regional shopping centre realm.

Sherway is a top producer for Cadillac Fairview, with per SF sales of $900 a year, according to general manager Andy Traynor, pictured on a hard-hat tour of the project earlier this week. “But we know there’s a new plateau we can reach, and to do that we have to expand.” Sherway’s redevelopment will include 50 new stores and three new “premium-casual” restaurants (one of which, Joey Sherway, was just announced.) Each of the restaurants will have rooftop terraces overlooking The Queensway.

Big-name US retailers are coming to Sherway as part of the revamp (the north wing expansion is seen above) including Saks Fifth Avenue (opening 2016 in a converted Sears) and Nordstrom. The mall’s existing Sporting Life will be relocated to the north wing and the building demolished to make way for the 139k SF, two-level Nordstrom, opening in 2017. J.Crew arrived this spring. The new additions will bring the mall to a total of 1.2M SF.

The outdated “Gourmet Fare” food court (which dates back to the mall’s last expansion in 1989) will be moved to the upper level of Sherway's new north wing, with 900 seats, double the existing number (work on the light and airy food court is pictured above). “The dining experience at Sherway is one of the areas we need to improve,” Andy notes. Parking will be increased substantially, too, with more than 2,000 new spots. And the north wing will have a 65k SF green roof, to help slow stormwater runoff.

Renovation of the existing mall is 90% complete, with $23M spent on new ceiling treatments, lighting and soft seating, and restoration of the French limestone floors and Sherway’s iconic tent-roof structure. The north expansion (rendered above) is slated to open less than a year from now, and Andy tells Bisnow he’s confident his team will get there. Last brutal winter led to some setbacks, threatening the project timeline. “We got a bit nervous,” he admits. “But we’re still on target.”