8289 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

One only has to look at what's happening at University Heights to get a sense of what's possible at Tillicum.

[RFS]

Perhaps part of the issue is we still have a lot of areas that are shockingly undeveloped before we get to shopping malls. One area that comes to mind is the old island highway through view royal. That stretch has a lot of old tear downs, vacant lots, a few crappy commercial buildings. It’s crying out for condos and ground floor commercial

[aastra]

 

Tuscany village and those other examples were built as residential, not added on later.

 

But what difference does that make? Some psychological thing for us old timers? What about young people and newcomers? Why would they care? They wouldn't even remember what a mall property was like prior to residential development.

 

And what about Uptown? Would residential at Uptown = "added on later" or completion of the remaining undeveloped parcels?

 

Like I say, people have been living in apartments and houses directly across the street from these malls for decades. Why can't the apartment building cross the road? What are we chicken about?

[Jackerbie]

But what difference does that make? Some psychological thing for us old timers? What about young people and newcomers? Why would they care? They wouldn't even remember what a mall property was like prior to residential development.

 

And what about Uptown? Would residential at Uptown = "added on later" or completion of the remaining undeveloped parcels?

 

Like I say, people have been living in apartments and houses directly across the street from these malls for decades. Why can't the apartment building cross the road? What are we chicken about?

 

Parking.

 

As someone who has done public consultation for a major mall redevelopment, this is the number one issue that continually comes up. People think that the current parking situation is awful (for them personally), and can't imagine how bad it will be if housing is introduced (despite that housing coming with a new parkade, transit improvements, road improvements, sidewalk improvements, and dedicated car share spaces in the case of my project). If they feel that it will be more difficult for them to drive across the city and park at the mall on Boxing Day, then they're vehemently opposed to anything new on that site. 

[Nparker]

...If they feel that it will be more difficult for them to drive across the city and park at the mall on Boxing Day, then they're vehemently opposed to anything new on that site. 

People are feeling too much and thinking too little in our world today.

[aastra]

It seems funny* that people would worry about loss of parking when loss of parking is not applicable (as in the case of the remaining parcels at Uptown). I suppose this takes us full circle to the great mall parking debate. Half the reviewers say parking at Uptown is awful, and the other half say parking at Uptown is fantastic.

 

*but also believable

[Jackerbie]

It seems funny* that people would worry about loss of parking when loss of parking is not applicable (as in the case of the remaining parcels at Uptown). I suppose this takes us full circle to the great mall parking debate. Half the reviewers say parking at Uptown is awful, and the other half say parking at Uptown is fantastic.

 

*but also believable

 

It's not so much loss of parking as it is an increase in demand for parking. If the mall is too successful, parking will become more scarce! I want my favourite retailers to thrive but I also want there to be an empty parking space waiting for me always.

 

Re: Uptown, finding parking is generally easy, finding my way in or out of their labyrinthine parkade with solid concrete walls obstructing sight lines at corners is generally not easy.

[LJ]

Wouldn't they just gate off a portion of the parking lot for exclusive use of the tenants?

[Jackerbie]

Wouldn't they just gate off a portion of the parking lot for exclusive use of the tenants?

That's a rational and logical thought, which is not allowed

[DustMagnet]

Wouldn't they just gate off a portion of the parking lot for exclusive use of the tenants?

 

Wouldn't that just directly feed into what Jackerbie already described?

 

If they feel that it will be more difficult for them to drive across the city and park at the mall on Boxing Day, then they're vehemently opposed to anything new on that site. 

 

[G-Man]

One of the challenges has been that malls have been owned REITs that did not permit residential because of the different returns that they have. In any event a sale to Anthem seems to turn that around. 

[Rob Randall]

It's crazy when you learn what is owned by Ontario pension plans. One used to own Hillside Mall, another owned Bay Centre another currently owns the chunnel England-to-France rail link.

[Kapten Kapsell]

It's crazy when you learn what is owned by Ontario pension plans. One used to own Hillside Mall, another owned Bay Centre another currently owns the chunnel England-to-France rail link.

That’s because the IRR generated by these illiquid assets generally fits into their overall investment strategy. Generally speaking, pension plans need to perform at a certain level in order to meet their actuarial targets for fully-funded status, so they have shifted to more illiquid asset classes (infrastructure, private equity, real estate) over the last generation or so, especially as returns from fixed income investments have dried up.

The sale of Tillicum fits with RioCan’s announced strategy of focusing their portfolio on the big six urban centres : Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal.

[Mike K.]

One of the challenges has been that malls have been owned REITs that did not permit residential because of the different returns that they have. In any event a sale to Anthem seems to turn that around. 

 

They permit and pursue residential projects, but they are rental projects and can't be condos (that's why Uptown pursued rentals, as did Tillicum). If they pursue condos they need to bring in an outside partner and the transaction become's an asset sale to another entity.

[spanky123]

It's crazy when you learn what is owned by Ontario pension plans. One used to own Hillside Mall, another owned Bay Centre another currently owns the chunnel England-to-France rail link.

 

It is crazy what is owned by most pension plans. As KK mentioned, the plans cannot earn enough with traditional lower risk investment to meet their needs so they have had to diversify. Our federal pension plan is one of the larger owners of the now bankrupt PG&E as an example.

[Mystic-Pizza]

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Edited by Mystic-Pizza, 14 February 2019 - 11:24 AM.

[Kapten Kapsell]

Heart and Sole has opened a second boutique across Fort Street from their main location.

 

The new location is called "Heart and Sole Too" and is adjacent to Sally Bun.

[Kapten Kapsell]

Rock Bay Footwear (Blanshard Street between Fort and Broughton) is closing.

[Rob Randall]

They took over the Gaudio Shoes store that closed in 2015 after 50 years downtown.

 

BTW, Rock Bay Shoes qualified for our odd geographical names thread. The winner in my opinion was Blanshard Street Winery on Burnside near Douglas.

[Victoria Watcher]

Payless Shoes is going into creditor protection in the U.S. and Canada, and will likely close all its stores.

https://www.cbc.ca/n...tores-1.5024739

the place is not really known for quality but their selection is alright. for me always worth a look.