Construction will start within the next six weeks on the long delayed 84,000-square-foot Phase 2 of the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Vancouver Airport mall, and that expansion is scheduled to open in spring 2019, mall representatives announced March 5.
A larger 140,000-square-foot expansion had been scheduled to break ground in 2016 and be complete and open by 2017. The plan now is to have a separate Phase 3 be built at some point in the future.
The expansion that is now in the works is expected to add 35 new luxury, premium and lifestyle brands to the centre. Hundreds of jobs will be created by the expansion, first in construction and then in retail.
The mall’s 240,000-square-foot first phase opened to tremendous success with Metro Vancouverites flocking there in droves for the July 9, 2015, opening day.
The 160,000 people who visited the mall in its first four days of operation caused traffic jams and outnumbered the crowds who visited the openings at what was then McArthurGlen’s other 20 properties worldwide. McArthurGlen now operates 24 shopping centres.
The company’s Richmond mall’s traffic count so far is that nearly 10 million shoppers have visited the mall in the more than two and a half years since that launch.
Phase 2 will adjoin the southeast part of the current centre and be built in the same architectural style, with an open-air village feel with piazzas, cobblestone walkways and various facades. The plan for Phase 3 is for it to adjoin the northeast corner of the centre.
“As one of Canada’s best performing malls, we are excited to expand our existing offer, elevating the retail experience for our guests and brand partners,” said the mall’s general manager Robert Thurlow.
To read a profile of Robert Thurlow, click here.
