Conestoga Mall

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Conestoga Mall
Conestoga Mall's Main Entrance
Conestoga Mall's Main Entrance
Facts and statistics
Location Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Opening date 1978
Developer Ivanhoe Cambridge
Management Ivanhoe Cambridge
Owner Ivanhoe Cambridge
No. of stores and services 84
No. of anchor tenants 7
Total retail floor area 545,422 ft²
No. of floors 1
Website http://www.conestogamall.com

Conestoga Mall is a major shopping mall situated at 550 King Street North in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Located at King Street's interchange with Highway 85 (Conestoga Parkway), it is the largest shopping centre in Waterloo, and third-largest in Waterloo Region. The mall is owned and operated by the shopping centre development company Ivanhoe Cambridge, which is a principal real estate subsidiary of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

Current anchor tenants include The Bay, Zellers, Zehrs, Galaxy Cinemas, Winners, SportChek, and Old Navy. The mall, built in 1978, was one of the only buildings on this section of King Street. Since it opened, the mall has expanded several times, and has contributed to the retail success of this area. Several big box retailers, including Future Shop, The Home Depot, a large LCBO, and a BMW dealership have opened on King Street North around the mall.

The mall is also one of Grand River Transit's main transportation terminals in Waterloo Region.



Contents

[edit] Redevelopment

 This section contains information about a building currently under construction.
It may contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change dramatically and frequently as construction progresses and new information becomes available.

Conestoga Mall is currently undergoing a major, $51.9 million redevelopment project [1]. The project began in mid 2006, and is scheduled to be completed in 2009. Details of the project include a 130,000 square foot expansion on the south end of the property; a renovation and upgrade to the existing building; a new, large 700 seat food court; and a pedestrian friendly façade. The City of Waterloo has only approved parts of the project, such as a new Old Navy store (recently completed), new CIBC building (completed), and The Bay and south parking lot expansion (currently under construction). The Bay store is moving slightly to the south and being completely rebuilt into a larger store. The space left vacated by the old Bay store is planned to be converted into new stores. Conestoga Mall is currently awaiting municipal approval of the main phase of the project. When finally completed, the mall hopes to add 40 high quality, brand name retailers to serve its middle to high income market. Two high-end restaurants with patios will open by the main entrance when done. Overall, this much anticipated project will strengthen Conestoga Mall's appeal in the Kitchener-Waterloo market.

In addition to renovating and expanding the mall itself, the redevelopment will also include significant traffic improvements to the King Street entrance of the mall. The intersection of Conestogo Road and Kraus Drive will be replaced with a roundabout as per the City of Waterloo's request, as well as have the addition of a second entrance to King Street in the form of a right in-right out intersection. These traffic improvements are scheduled to be completed by November 2008, and will be paid for by Ivanhoe Cambridge as a condition of the City of Waterloo issuing a building permit for the expansion of the shopping centre.[1]

[edit] Environmental Commitment

Conestoga Mall is recognized as one of the most environmentally conscious malls in Waterloo Region. Foremost, the mall supports green electricity[2], purchasing 30% of its common area electricity requirements from Bullfrog Power [2]. Other environmental measures include using washable cloth towels in the mall washrooms, having many recycling facilities placed throughout the mall, and not using pesticides on the property grounds.

[edit] Loblaw Superstore Controversy

Loblaw Company, which operates the Zehrs chain of grocery stores, owns a large parcel of land to the south west of Conestoga Mall in Waterloo. Despite much controversy with local citizens and the City of Waterloo itself, Loblaw plans on closing the Conestoga Mall Zehrs as soon as possible and moving the grocery store completely to a much larger 175,000± square foot new building[3]. The decision is currently being appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board, as the City of Waterloo has been reluctant to approve the application for various reasons, the main being the land having to be rezoned to major commercial from industrial.

[edit] Previous Anchors

When Conestoga Mall first opened in 1978, it housed just three anchors: a Robinsons to the south, a K-Mart to the north, and a small Dominion grocery store to the east. Robinsons went bankrupt in the early 1990's and The Bay has opened in its place. K-Mart discontinued its operations in Canada and has since been taken over by Zellers. The Dominion location was converted to a Zehrs in the 1980s, and Zehrs later relocated to a new and larger location in the mall. In the previous grocery store space, Winners, Sport Chek, and other retailers opened in 1999.

[edit] Anchors

[edit] References

  1. ^ Council Agenda: Monday, August 27, 2007. City of Waterloo. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  2. ^ http://www.waterloochronicle.ca/wat/news/news_846532.html
  3. ^ http://www.guelphmercury.com/pdfs/2007Oct23/A04.PDF

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 43°29′53.37″N, 80°31′37.22″W