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After nearly a decade in the works, the Oakridge Park shopping mall in Vancouver will open its doors to the public on Thursday as part of a phased opening of a huge retail and residential redevelopment.
The $6.5-billion project was first pitched a decade ago, as part of a five-million-square-foot redevelopment of the Oakridge Centre mall. Once complete, it will include luxury condos, office space and a public park across eight city blocks.
On Thursday, 650,000 square feet of retail space — with premium brands such as Louis Vuitton, Versace and Dior — will open alongside almost 1,400 residential units and 720,000 square feet of offices.
Retail analysts say it remains to be seen if the massive redevelopment’s targeting of luxury consumers will work in a market strained by inflation and the cost-of-living crisis.
The full $6.5-billion Oakridge Park redevelopment will open in 2029. A rendering of the project is seen from above. (QuadReal/Westbank)
David Ian Gray, an instructor at the Capilano University business school, said Oakridge Park was conceived in the mid-2010s in Vancouver — a time when mixed-use retail was in vogue and luxury retail was a major strength of the city.
“I don’t know if Vancouver has the base right now in this current economic climate,” he said.
“There are wealthy people, for sure, in Vancouver and they’re going to be interested in this. Are there enough of them to sustain the traffic on an everyday, every-season basis?”
Around 650,000 square feet of retail space, a rendering of which is seen here, will open at Oakridge Park mall starting Thursday. (QuadReal/Westbank)
Gray said while retailers and malls in general were seeing healthy foot traffic across Canada, there could be hesitancy among some retailers to commit to long-term leases at the new mall.
“We’re seeing a little bit of a wait-and-see for the next round of tenanting,” he said.
“But basically, for this to work, they’ve got to get it launched pretty soon and they are doing so. And then we’ll see how well the luxury aspect fits, and they may have to pivot that in future.”
A rendering of the Oakridge Park retail space is seen here. In addition to the residential and commercial units, the redevelopment will also feature a public park. (QuadReal/Westbank)
Adrian Beruschi, a real estate agent with CBRE Vancouver, said the previous Oakridge Centre mall featured very high sales and was well-attended.
“Now with the … reimagined Oakridge, it’s coming at us at a scale that I’m not sure most Canadians have ever seen,” he said, with the mall being one of North America’s largest retail and residential construction sites.
“It’s definitely the most ambitious retail project in British Columbia’s history.”
The redevelopment, seen here in 2023, will eventually have more than 3,300 residential and rental units — though it enters a market where condo sales have been depressed and construction costs are increasing. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Full opening in 2029
Developers QuadReal and Westbank have pitched the redevelopment as Vancouver’s second town centre, though Beruschi says he’s skeptical of that.
“The gravitational pull is the centre itself. It’s not going to make a massive amount of change in the immediate neighbourhood, in my opinion,” he said.
Oakridge Park is located along 41st Avenue and Cambie Street in Vancouver. It is seen here under construction in 2024. Over 30,000 construction workers contributed to the site, which is one of North America’s largest construction zones. (Gian-Paolo Mendoza/CBC)
Beruschi and Gray both said they’re intrigued by the mall’s inclusion of a unique food court — Time Out Market — which will see luxury chefs from the Metro Vancouver area all in one place, as opposed to the usual chain restaurants that are mall staples.
The analysts say the concept has been across the world, in New York and European cities, but it’s a new feature for Vancouver.
“I think it’ll draw people from the surrounding markets to take a look,” Beruschi said.
WATCH | Crane safety violations at Oakridge Park site:
EllisDon fined more than $1.2M for crane safety violations in B.C.
The prime contractor behind Vancouver’s massive Oakridge development has been fined more than $1.2 million by the province’s workplace regulator. The WorksafeBC penalty comes nearly two years after a worker was killed at the site. As Jon Hernandez reports, the death is one of many safety violations that have been investigated by authorities.
Though the redesigned Oakridge Park was supposed to have opened by 2025, it is now slated to open fully in 2029.
Chrystal Burns, an executive vice-president at QuadReal, said there were numerous delays to the project.
One of those, she acknowledged, came after construction worker Yuridia Flores was killed after a tower crane dropped its load — but she added that the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues also were a factor.
“We thank our neighbours for their patience, as the scale of the project certainly has been somewhat disruptive, I’m sure,” Burns said.
“But with the amenities we’re bringing, I’m hoping it’ll be worthwhile.”
The first phase of the project that is opening Thursday amounts to 2.8 million square feet.
A 3.6-hectare municipal park on its roof will be partially complete by then.
