Vancouver was tops in Canada for retail growth last year, and the city boasts three of the 10 most profitable shopping centres, according to a new report from Avison Young. Here are the Western Canadian malls that shined brightest.
1. CF Pacific Centre
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Location: Vancouver
Owner: Cadillac Fairview
Size: 1.58M SF
Sales PSF: $1,599
Worth noting: Despite losing top spot overall to Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre (by just $11 per SF), Pacific Centre had an action-packed 2015, capped by Nordstrom's arrival. For overall retail sales growth, BC (+6.6%) and Vancouver (+9.9%) led the nation.
2. Oakridge Centre
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Location: Vancouver
Owner: Ivanhoé Cambridge
Size: 575k SF
Sales PSF: $1,537
Worth noting: Ivanhoé is reducing the scope of its $1.5B mall redevelopment plan (rendered above), a JV with Westbank Properties, to 3.5M SF from 4.6M, with less new retail and fewer residential towers. A revised application is expected this spring.
3. Southgate Centre
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Location: Edmonton
Owner: Ivanhoé Cambridge
Size: 940,986 SF
Sales PSF: $1,215
Worth noting: Southgate—anchored by Hudson’s Bay and Sears—hosted the Van Gogh Museum Edition Collection last fall, featuring 3D reproductions of some of the artist’s most celebrated works. But it was a trying year for Alberta retail, which had sales decline by 3.5% in 2015.
4. CF Chinook Centre
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Location: Calgary
Owner: Cadillac Fairview
Size: 1.35M SF
Sales PSF: $1,119
Worth noting: Cowtown's largest enclosed shopping centre hosted last month’s Juno Fan Fare, and welcomed a Tesla Motors dealership—Alberta’s first—in 2015. Wild Rose Country is still slumping, though, with January retail sales of $6,135, down 2.2% from a year ago.
5. Metropolis at Metrotown
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Location: Burnaby
Owner: Ivanhoé Cambridge
Size: 1.78M SF
Sales PSF: $1,008
Worth noting: BC’s biggest mall—Canada's second-largest—was hit last year by the closure of an 85k SF Target, arguably the province's most high-profile location. But Metrotown's transit-oriented environs are thriving, with Station Square a project to watch in 2016.
