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FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015
SCAN WITH TO REVEAL PHOTOS & VIDEO
PHOTO BY
GORD GOBLE
The Optimist was given a tour of the under-construction Tsawwassen Mills shopping complex this week. Bass Pro Shop is to open next spring while other stores are slated for a fall 2016 opening.
Tsawwassen Mills taking shape
1.2 million-square-foot regional shopping centre will have 200 stores, including Bass Pro Shop BY
SANDOR GYARMATI
sgyarmati@delta-optimist.com
It’s a beehive of activity as the massive Tsawwassen Mills shopping complex takes shape. Hundreds of construction workers from many different trades have erected the buildings that will eventually house the 1.2 million-square-foot regional shopping centre that will change the face of retail in the Lower Mainland. The Ivanhoé Cambridge project, based on the company’s huge
CrossIron Mills mall outside of Calgary and Vaughan Mills in the Greater Toronto area, is located at the Tsawwassen First Nation, just off Highway 17A and 52nd Street. Director of development Jeff Brown gave the Optimist a tour of the new facility this week, saying a project of such size is certainly complex, but they have the experience of what it takes to build them. Having 200 stores, Tsawwassen Mills will be mostly a fashionoriented mall with a mix of outlet
T THE A E B T A HE
and other stores, but also a wide range of other products and services to enhance the shoppers’ experience. “The success of the Mills has been because we’ve been able to attract a really good mix of tenants. They can be the larger retailer that’s national but also the smaller regional and even local. They’ve done really well,” Brown said. Surrounded by new roads that will provide different points of entry, the buildings housing the
16 anchors on the outside have gone up with work also underway on the interior. The biggest of the anchors is a Bass Pro Shop at 145,000 square feet. The outdoor recreation giant will not only be selling merchandise but will also have a big aquarium, a boat repair facility, restaurant as well as a bowling alley with extended hours. That building is beginning to resemble a huge hunting or fishing lodge. Bass Pro is to open next spring but all the other stores are sched-
uled to open at the same time in October 2016. The various sections of the mall will have special themes, including a Coast Salish area with First Nation art, and between each neighbourhood there are transition zones. The neighborhood closest to Bass Pro will have sports retailers including some that will be making their first appearance in this province. Within that area of See MILLS page 3
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