General Retail News

[TMKM94]

Husky gas Station at Victoria and Westmount is being turned into a Pioneer gas station.

[TMKM94]

Not sure how long it's been like this, but Zehrs in the Laurentian power center has been renovated and got a major downsizing.

[neonjoe]

Not sure how long it's been like this, but Zehrs in the Laurentian power center has been renovated and got a major downsizing.

I really do not know what kind of tenant they will be able to find to fill the former Joe Fresh/Housewares side of the store.  Laurentian Power Centre feels like it is ripe for redevelopment. (At least the portion owned by SmartCentres)

[SF22]

Not sure how long it's been like this, but Zehrs in the Laurentian power center has been renovated and got a major downsizing.

I really do not know what kind of tenant they will be able to find to fill the former Joe Fresh/Housewares side of the store.  Laurentian Power Centre feels like it is ripe for redevelopment. (At least the portion owned by SmartCentres)

Did they just pull out the entire housewares section? I wonder if Loblaws is pulling back on that whole concept, at least at that scale.

I'm shocked that this plaza has been left as-is for so long. When Target and Home Outfitters left, I thought for sure that they'd rip down that building and put up residential towers, or something custom-built (like an IKEA). It's a huge chunk of land with good highway access; it's weird that they've just let it mostly sit.

[ZEBuilder]

I really do not know what kind of tenant they will be able to find to fill the former Joe Fresh/Housewares side of the store.  Laurentian Power Centre feels like it is ripe for redevelopment. (At least the portion owned by SmartCentres)

Did they just pull out the entire housewares section? I wonder if Loblaws is pulling back on that whole concept, at least at that scale.

I'm shocked that this plaza has been left as-is for so long. When Target and Home Outfitters left, I thought for sure that they'd rip down that building and put up residential towers, or something custom-built (like an IKEA). It's a huge chunk of land with good highway access; it's weird that they've just let it mostly sit.

The one problem with redeveloping the plaza is it is directly in the middle of the AZR of the airport so based upon the updated AZR it is only 115m tall, currently it is 149m so they can't really build anything tall. The Home Outfitters now has another company in their now so it is just the old Target/Zellers that is left empty. I know that the Lowes and Staples aren't leaving anytime soon though so it might be a while.

[razzie13]

Did they just pull out the entire housewares section? I wonder if Loblaws is pulling back on that whole concept, at least at that scale.

I'm shocked that this plaza has been left as-is for so long. When Target and Home Outfitters left, I thought for sure that they'd rip down that building and put up residential towers, or something custom-built (like an IKEA). It's a huge chunk of land with good highway access; it's weird that they've just let it mostly sit.

The one problem with redeveloping the plaza is it is directly in the middle of the AZR of the airport so based upon the updated AZR it is only 115m tall, currently it is 149m so they can't really build anything tall. The Home Outfitters now has another company in their now so it is just the old Target/Zellers that is left empty. I know that the Lowes and Staples aren't leaving anytime soon though so it might be a while.

Damn. I was hoping it would be a great spot for the new hospital building that's being talked about. The land the power centre sits on, plus the land within the highway interchange next to it, would be a huge and potentially very suitable parcel if it weren't for the inability to build higher.

[ZEBuilder]

The one problem with redeveloping the plaza is it is directly in the middle of the AZR of the airport so based upon the updated AZR it is only 115m tall, currently it is 149m so they can't really build anything tall. The Home Outfitters now has another company in their now so it is just the old Target/Zellers that is left empty. I know that the Lowes and Staples aren't leaving anytime soon though so it might be a while.

Damn. I was hoping it would be a great spot for the new hospital building that's being talked about. The land the power centre sits on, plus the land within the highway interchange next to it, would be a huge and potentially very suitable parcel if it weren't for the inability to build higher.

Even with the height restriction you can still fit a building a bit taller then Charlie West in it so it's not that they can't build anything tall such as condos, it just won't be anywhere near the expectation for downtown Kitchener (40+). It would definitely be a good place for a future hospital with easy access to much of the city and the future LRT line but you'd have to convince Lowes, Staples and Zehrs to all vacate.

[danbrotherston]

Damn. I was hoping it would be a great spot for the new hospital building that's being talked about. The land the power centre sits on, plus the land within the highway interchange next to it, would be a huge and potentially very suitable parcel if it weren't for the inability to build higher.

Even with the height restriction you can still fit a building a bit taller then Charlie West in it so it's not that they can't build anything tall such as condos, it just won't be anywhere near the expectation for downtown Kitchener (40+). It would definitely be a good place for a future hospital with easy access to much of the city and the future LRT line but you'd have to convince Lowes, Staples and Zehrs to all vacate.

I mean, that height restriction isn't that significant. You could still build a ton of mid rise (4-6 stories) combined with some high rise (7-12 stories) and not even come close to the limit, and it would already be an extremely dense node.

We don't need tall buildings if we are willing to build midrise (which everyone claims to want).

That being said, I don't really know how the economics work...but I cannot for a second believe that 33 acres of 3-12 storey buildings with shops and homes intermixed could possibly be less financially sustainable than 33 acres of mostly surface parking with a few cheap single story big box stores dotting the parking lots.

FWIW, I think the biggest obstacle to building an actual place would be lack of effective transit. The site is highly unwalkable and disconnected from any of the surrounding areas (not just by the highway interchange, but also by Ottawa St., even McClellan park--literally across the street---would not be a place kids could walk to). There are buses, but they aren't well oriented to the site, and are far too infrequent, and the LRT is too far to walk.

Any realistic low car development would have to include a significant transit investment.

[bravado]

But they are getting a pedestrian bridge over the 7/8 401 AND you can get a charge from the cops in the hospital for riding your bike through the crosswalk at the Homer Watson roundabout, so that seems pretty walkable to me!

[danbrotherston]

But they are getting a pedestrian bridge over the 401 AND you can get a charge from the cops in the hospital for riding your bike through the crosswalk at the Homer Watson roundabout, so that seems pretty walkable to me!

Lol...I detect some sarcasm...although the pedestrian overpass is a good point, it does significantly improve the walkability. You can get to a park, and almost some schools.

FWIW...the pedestrian overpass probably has more potential to connect people into walkable retail in a development there rather than the reverse.

[KevinL]

I wonder if the north building's footprint is big enough for an Ikea.

[KevinL]

The Goodwill at Weber and King in Waterloo (in the old Chapters) has opened. The big main front doors are a drive-through donation space, while the retail entrance is along the left side. Fully stocked with quite a decent selection.

Just across the parking lot, the front of the Wholesale Club building is starting to be renovated, presumably into a No Frills.

[danbrotherston]

The Goodwill at Weber and King in Waterloo (in the old Chapters) has opened. The big main front doors are a drive-through donation space, while the retail entrance is along the left side. Fully stocked with quite a decent selection.

Just across the parking lot, the front of the Wholesale Club building is starting to be renovated, presumably into a No Frills.

Seems like a small building for a Goodwill.  Too bad about the wholesale club though. That whole area is so...underused. It's why I think that there should have been a phase 1.5 of the LRT to bring it down King from Conestoga to Uptown.

[panamaniac]

I wonder if the north building's footprint is big enough for an Ikea.

The Laurentian power centre might be a better bet.

[KevinL]

 Too bad about the wholesale club though. 

Oh, the Wholesale Club will remain (it's in the rear unit of the building). This will finally see both units activated.