Oakridge Centre expansion approved by Vancouver City Council

Vancouver City Council has approved an expansion of Oakridge Centre. The mall will see its retail component expand substantially, including at least two newly-built department stores. Other features and amenities will be added to the project with a total estimated cost of about $1.5 billion. 

To view a slideshow illustrating the mall's expansion, click the image above. All images are by mall landlord Ivanhoe Cambridge. 

The mall's retail component will more than double in size, from about 604,500 square feet to about 1.365 million square feet. A new department store anchor at the southern end of the mall was originally proposed to be about 155,000 square feet. Oakridge had been targeting Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue or Bloomingdale's as this department store anchor, though we've been told that these plans may have since been changed. Hudson's Bay and Target will both get newly constructed store spaces at the north end of the mall, while the possible third unnamed department store and a grocery store will anchor the mall's south end.

Click the photo above for the mall's tentative second level floor plan, as well as a plan of what will go above the mall. 

Outdoor retail will also be featured at the mall, providing the opportunity for stores and restaurants to remain open after the mall closes. This outdoor component may also include 'neighbourhood stores', complementing the indoor mall that is expected to attract even more national and international retail chains. Impressively, the mall will employ about 2,200 people when completed. 

In total, 14 residential towers between nine and 44 stories will be built above the expanded mall, housing an estimated 6,200 people in over 2,900 residential units. In addition, there will be a nine-acre rooftop park, a community centre/senior's centre, library, daycare and other new amenities at Oakridge.  

The entire project is expected to be completed by 2024. 

[Oakridge Centre website]