$100 Million Wellington/401 Retail Project

[GreatTallNorth2]

**I called Pen Equity and spoke to the agent about the tenants of this project. He told me there is very little chance of an IKEA at this site. I asked him what makes this project any different than any other big box site. He told me that it will be different because the tenants will be new to the area and the design is much better than your average big box sprawl. I am wondering if one of the tenants could be Bass Pro or Cabela's, both of which are new to Canada. They are big stores that do attract people from out of town.

Gateway project a retail drain
SHOPPING: Shuffling the deck

By NORMAN DE BONO THE LONDON FREE PRESS
Last Updated: May 4, 2011 9:07pm
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A $100-million "gateway" project would mark London's Hwy. 401 entrance under a new proposal.

About 25 hectares of land - from the Costco store, south of Hwy. 401 on Wellington Road, to Dingman Road - would become home to a 500,000-sq.-ft. retail and commercial plaza.

"It is an exciting development. We want to bring London to Highway 401," said David Johnston, president of PenEquity Realty Corp. in Toronto, the project developer.

While much recent London development has been in the north end, it's time London embraced Hwy. 401 with a high-profile, welcoming development, he added.

"It will have large retail users and other uses too. It's very unusual to find that type of location available in Ontario on a 400-series highway."

There are rumours PenEquity has landed a Loews store as its anchor tenant. Other uses are rumoured to include office space and even a hotel. But Johnston declined comment, saying more details will be revealed in June.

"Where can you find a combination of a city that is a regional hub, has an international airport, a population of about 400,000 and 50,000 cars driving by every day? We will provide something unique, something different to draw people from Waterloo, Woodstock, Sarnia and Windsor. It will be exciting," he said.

The city hasn't received a formal application for the development, but the application is "imminent," said Jim Yanchula, the city's manager of community planning and urban design.

The location has 610 metres of frontage along Hwy. 401. The 25 hectares site includes a large man-made pond which, if kept, reduces the developable site to 21 hectares.

"This is moving ahead very rapidly," said Peter White, chief executive of the London Economic Development Corp.

"It is an outstanding location. It will be a wonderful gateway development, the best visibility in the city."

But the development raises concerns about retail saturation in London. The new development will leave a trail of empty stores elsewhere in the city, predicted retailing expert Michael Pearce, a professor at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.

"It will draw from old to new and it will be a dogfight" for shoppers, he said.

He dismissed grand descriptions of "gateway development," saying it'll really be a collection of big-box stores, called "power nodes" similar to those found in Hyde Park, and hardly a grand welcome to the city, said Pearce.

"We have had enough stores for a long time, but shoppers are attracted to new," he said.

It could also spell more gloom for the downtown, especially the development includes office space for lease, he added.

"It is another part of the long-term shift away from downtown; that will keep happening," said Pearce.

For a preview of the impact the PenEquity deal could have, look no further than Westmount Shopping Centre, a "ghost mall" killed by new power node development at Wonderland and Southdale, roads, said Pearce. The mall is converting to office space, which hurts the downtown.

"Is there any reason to believe there is a net positive to this, or are we just shuffling the deck here? Westmount is a great example of that," he said.

A Toronto-area businessperson planned the development and bought the land, but the economic downturn killed that deal and PenEquity stepped in as developer, said Peter Whatmore, vice-president of commercial realtor C.B.Richard Ellis.

"It is a beautiful site and will become a regional draw," he said.

The area is in for a larger retail makeover with the Crossings Centre, at Wellington and Exeter roads, getting a new look and office space, said Chris Kirwin, vice-president and broker with Colliers International in London.

The plaza will add a 10,000-sq.-ft. electronics store, 60,000 sq. ft. of office space and two restaurants.

"The main challenge for that centre has been access off Exeter Road," said Kirwin. "We are talking with the city about additional access."

He welcomes the PenEquity development, saying it would make the entire Wellington strip more of a shopping destination.

E-mail norman.debono@sunmedia.ca, or follow Normatlfpress on Twitter.

[manny_santos]

Yay, let's kill White Oaks Mall, Downtown London, and St. Thomas.

[K85]

Sigh... bullshit way to do it. They need to redevelop it into something more useful. Get rid of the Ice House, get rid of that damned plaza, and get rid of all those empty buildings there too. Replace it with a Library/YMCA deal, get more home development and central area buildings (highrises). Add a bus route that connects to White Oaks mall, and leave the shopping there.

the 401 psychological barrier is moronic. I go out to drive in the area often times because I want to. There are no stores there that I shop at, minus Costco once an a while.

[GreatTallNorth2]

I guess the biggest problem we have in London is that land is too cheap. The reason a company would build at this site vs. re-develop an existing site is because the cost is much cheaper to start from scratch then tear down or retrofit an existing site. It would be much better to add on to White Oaks Mall and add these stores, but White Oaks would have to make the move to do that. I really hate the fact that places like Old Navy and other area stores located in plazas vs. being in White Oaks, but maybe they didn't have a choice.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2

I guess the biggest problem we have in London is that land is too cheap. The reason a company would build at this site vs. re-develop an existing site is because the cost is much cheaper to start from scratch then tear down or retrofit an existing site. It would be much better to add on to White Oaks Mall and add these stores, but White Oaks would have to make the move to do that. I really hate the fact that places like Old Navy and other area stores located in plazas vs. being in White Oaks, but maybe they didn't have a choice.

I doubt they have much choice - I would bet they want to be as close to White Oaks Mall as possible, but there just isn't the space on the mall property. The only solution for that property to add any more retail would be to build a super parkade, similar to what Northgate Mall in North Bay has.

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

Yay, let's kill White Oaks Mall, Downtown London, and St. Thomas.

I doubt this development will do anything to these, but it might have a minor impact on the big-box developments in the White Oaks area.

I'm all for developing the 401/402 corridors and I'll accept pretty much anything because it beats what we have there now.

I know it sounds desperate, but if this is the only way to do it, then so be it.

Oh, and keep the man-made pond. There's more than enough room in this area and this feature will make it unique. An oasis in a parking lot... The surrounding area could be made into a neat little park.

[joeymac]

Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2

For a preview of the impact the PenEquity deal could have, look no further than Westmount Shopping Centre, a "ghost mall" killed by new power node development at Wonderland and Southdale, roads, said Pearce. The mall is converting to office space, which hurts the downtown.

A longtime westmount resident, I have to disagree with this part about The Wonderland/Southdale power centres killing off westmount. That mall started dying well before the Power Centre was even built. (for me it died when HMV closed..). The problem with Westmount was that White Oaks and Masonville offered a better experience and London did not need four major indoor malls. Westmount had the worst location of any of them, and did not offer any exclusive stores not found at White Oaks or Masonville. Add that to very high rental rates and poor management, and the mall was doomed.

A few stores did relocate, such as Rogers, the the Beer and Liquor stores, but most of the development in the power centre is new to the westmount area. It just proves that westmount didn't fail because of a lack of demand for retail. The former Toys R Us plaza on wellington looks like it is being re-developed so something new will take it's place.

[K85]

Westmount could have been great, I really like the layout of it, but, as said it didn't bring anything new. Cookie cutter mall style really.

I remember they used to have a store with puppies in the windows... man oh man did I love going there as a kid!

[fogandrail]

It likely suffered more from lack of need, viability, or "love," to put it that way. Despite its "cookie-cutter" layout, a mall is hurt more by lack of shoppers than shoppers could be hurt by its disappearance, because the lack of seeming demand simply emphasizes its own inherent flaws and lack of worth. Shoppers have many other places to go, as they generally have done, and have as frequently made a point of emphasizing this.

[joeymac]

it will be interesting to see how the redevelopment stands the test of time (Westmount).. Love the movie theatre and Shoeless Joes although it is a chain brings something different to the neighbourhood. The offices on the second level will benefit from underground parking.

[GreatTallNorth2]

I am a Westmount resident as well. Westmount died the day the city decided to put the Westmount library in big box land. What a terrible decision for the city to make. I know that we are going to have retail outside of malls, but can anyone tell me they like the format of these DumbCentre style developments? They are so pedestrian unfriendly. You have to drive everywhere because these centres are so sprawled out. Also, Westmount really doesn't have a community centre area thanks to this sprawl big box crap. Some of these stores could have easily located in Westmount Mall. Others could have gone in the vacant land - like where the White Rose used to be.

[joeymac]

Westmount library was refused a long-term lease by the mall, they were at forced out of their old location by the Church they shared space with (they wanted to expand the Church). The mall offered the space temporarily but were afraid to offer long-term rent to the library unless they paid big bucks to reinforce the structure (the mall management also refused to rent them any space in the front of the mall, like where Shoeless joes is now). The neighbourhood groups voted against their next preferred location, which was the soccer field in front of Westmount public school (afraid of traffic tie-ups and probably weirdos being too close to the kids while they are at school).

White Rose still occupied that land (they went out of business after the deal was signed with Southside). So the LPL was pretty much forced to take the only land that Southside would rent them which was on the edge of their available land on Wonderland. They would not rent them any space closer to Southdale. They looked at other land but it was either too expensive, too small, or even further from Westmount than the library is now.

Ironic that given the major downturn at westmount, they would probably kill to have the library at this point, but they did not have the vision.

So basically NIMBY again. Westmount library is busier now than it was in either of it's previous locations so you could say that everything worked out.

[MrSlippery519]

Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2

**I called Pen Equity and spoke to the agent about the tenants of this project. He told me there is very little chance of an IKEA at this site. I asked him what makes this project any different than any other big box site. He told me that it will be different because the tenants will be new to the area and the design is much better than your average big box sprawl. I am wondering if one of the tenants could be Bass Pro or Cabela's, both of which are new to Canada. They are big stores that do attract people from out of town.

Bass Pro Shop or Cabela's would be interesting...would likely see Bass Pro before Cabela's though as they seem to be more out west at the moment.

Is there anything else people can think of that could go in this development that would legitimately bring people from outside London to shop as they keep stating??

Bass Pro
Cabela's
Ikea

Either way I am with haljackey, I think this is a good thing and if there is actually something that will draw people from outside London then even better.

Oh and also...the Wonderland/Southdale power centres had nothing to do with Westmount dying. I work basically across from Bob Martins golf and used to go to Westmount at least 1-2 times a week for lunch and it was years ago that it started really going down hill.

[manny_santos]

I'm not sure what to believe about Westmount. For me the death of that mall came when LCBO moved out. But I also know that once development began south of Southdale in earnest, there was a "me too" mentality among businesses that began driving more businesses to the area, no matter how poor a decision it would be. Angelo's Bakery for example was determined to put a location in that area, despite the amount of evidence it was a bad location and too big for their needs. And we all know what happened to them as a result.

I have found with many "big box" developments, at least in London, there is a "me too" mentality that leads to local businesses trying to locate there when their business is better suited to be closer to the central part of the city. Ozone Organics Restaurant was another one - great concept, horrible location, up on Hyde Park Road near Wal-Mart. That place could've done very well on Richmond Row.

[haljackey]

Westmount died simply because there wasn't a need for it. With 3 big malls (Masonville, White Oaks, Westmount), one had to die. Westmount, despite having underground parking as a draw, simply lost because it had a bad location compared to the other two.

The loss of the Beer Store, LCBO, Shoppers Drug Mart and the Westmount Library (which was only 1 block away before it moved into the mall temporarily) continued to contribute to it's demise.

Nowadays we have to drive everywhere to get these basic goods and services where back in the day everything was in one place. With higher gas prices, wouldn't it be better to go back to the way things were? Also malls are awesome during the winter/bad weather because you don't have to go outside.


Getting back on topic, I see this new development as a draw for passers-by on the 401, not something that will destroy existing service sector networks. Many cities have this sort of development along their main trunk route (Hamilton along the 403, Niagara along the QEW, and Port Huron along I-69 for examples) as it is a way to create a destination point for travelers to come to and spend some money. It ain't as great as some other draws, but it is a draw nonetheless.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

Yay, let's kill White Oaks Mall, Downtown London, and St. Thomas.

pretty much.

[joeymac]

I remember Wellington / 401 back when there was a drive-in theatre there (on the costco site) and Tower's department store. Then of course Superstore mall and I can't remember what the name of the department store that was there before.. why do I want to say "Treasure Island"..

Crossroads centre was hurt by probably the worst access of any plaza in London. If IKEA or Bass Pro ever were going to move to London, this would be the kind of development they would choose - and let's face it, this development will need a BIG draw or it will fail.

[MolsonExport]

God, can't London get an attraction that is not built around shopping?

I'd love to have somewhere interesting to take the family on off-weather days. An Aquarium, for instance. Or a Science Centre (even Sudbury has one of these). London is utterly bereft of attractions. Storeybook gardens sucks and is overpriced.

[Kokkei Mizu]

So I called PenEquity today. They said the anchor store hasn't been locked in yet, but they said it COULD be a generic big-box store like Wal-Mart. I also asked them when construction is likely to start, and they said 2013, with the plaza open for business in late 2014...

[K85]

A giant outdoors place would have me move beside it... When I heard MEC was coming here, I almost bust a nut with giddiness! WE NEED MORE OF THE SPECIALTY STORES!