Upscale Vancouver Airport Outlet Mall to be Located on Skytrain Line

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Initial rendering of the 'Town Square' at Richmond BC's proposed McArthurGlen outlet. Image: Vancouver Airport Authority

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Today it was announced that the proposed McArthurGlen outlet mall near Vancouver International Airport would be located within close proximity of the Templeton Skytrain station. This is a location change from a previously proposed centre further south on the Airport’s island. The proposed centre’s design and size is expected to change somewhat as well.

We have yet to see the new McArthurGlen designs as we have been told that they are ‘still in the works’.  A phone call to the McArthurGlen London (England) headquarters was not returned at press time. We spoke to a prominent Toronto retail analyst who speculates the mall will include both ‘larger format’ as well as traditional outlet boutiques.

A representative at the Vancouver Airport Authority notes that it is unclear at this time what size the centre will be. Initially the proposal was for about 350,000 square feet, and we have been told that this new site could include up to a half-million square feet of retail as a new proposal is made to the Airport Authority for approval.

We got curious about the possibility of McAurthurGlen having a Nordstrom Rack. We called our Nordstrom insider in Seattle and they told us “Nordstrom can’t confirm a location in the new airport centre at this time. Nordstrom Rack is always interested in new retail opportunities and is actively seeking Canadian locations. We will make Canadian Rack location announcements shortly, and none of these currently include the Vancouver airport location you have mentioned”.

Soon after we spoke to our Holt Renfrew insider in Toronto who said, speculatively, that their new hr2 concept could be considered for the site but that this was only speculative as they would need to see site plan and tenant proposals to determine if McArthurGlen would be an appropriate location for hr2. Our Holt’s insider says hr2 will expand into the Lower Mainland but that no definitive locations have been secured.

We spoke to our Toronto retail analyst a second time, and he tells us he expects the new centre will include some upscale architecture, so as to cater to an affluent (mostly) Asian and tourist clientele expected to visit the centre. He says we might expect retailers such as Hugo Boss and Armani and possibly even Prada and Bottega Veneta.

We will be provided plans of the McArthurGlen centre when finalized, and we’ll post and analyse them for readers. Keep watching Retail Insider for McArthurGlen Vancouver updates.

McArthurGlen website: http://www.mcarthurglengroup.com

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