By Mario Toneguzzi

Since its completion in 2018, the New Horizon Mall on the outskirts of Calgary has experienced many challenges and bad press over the perceived slow pace of retailers opening their doors at the unique shopping centre.

But the mall, which is a marketplace of collective entrepreneurs, artisans and fresh market vendors, has been gaining momentum of late and is now 53 per cent leased with the recent announcement that a third, and the largest anchor tenant, Sky Castle, a family entertainment centre, will open this fall.

It will occupy 34,000 square feet on the second floor of the mall and will feature a climbing zone, little kids mini-town, mini-carousel, snow castle, Ferris wheel, donut slide and multi-slides, toddler jumping zone, castle stage and interactive games.

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Rendering of Sky Castle play place at New Horizon Mall. Photos: Sky Castle

“Sky Castle is a game changer for New Horizon Mall. There was a lot of interest in this space from many different organizations but we wanted a strong anchor tenant that will attract shoppers and families and we are ecstatic to have Sky Castle on board,” said Ross Cannata of New Horizon Mall Inc., the company formed by the developers of the mall to manage the 114,000 square feet of space it owns.

Other anchor tenants include Prairie Horizon Fresh Market, with 23,000 square feet, and the Best Shop, a 15,000-square-foot Chinese department store.

“This is certainly significant news and well received by all the unit holders and store owners,” said Scott Smith, general manager of New Horizon Mall. “Based on the feedback I’ve received, they’re all excited to see another anchor tenant come. It’s going to be kind of a real game changer for the mall. We’ve now got three large anchors secured and this is really going to make a difference for people visiting the mall and shopping here.”

New Horizon Mall, located just south of the CrossIron Mills shopping centre along the Queen Elizabeth II Highway and just outside the City of Calgary limits, is a unique concept as Alberta’s first condo mall where retail space was sold and owners either operate their own store or lease to another store operator. Officials says 98 per cent of the total retail space has been sold.

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Reposted from @authenticshawarmayyc Thanks to everyone for attending in Authent Shawarma’s Grand Opening Dinner at @newhorizonmall.official ****** #yyc #calgaryliving #yycliving #calgarynow #yycnow #calgarylife #yyclife #alberta #shawarma #calgaryshawarma #airdire #newhorizonmall #crossironmills #calgaryfoods #yycfoods #calgaryrestaurants #yycrestaurants #authenticshawarma #halal #calgaryhalal #shoppingyyc #foodcourt #shoppingdestination

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It’s Sunday Funday! Come check out our unique stores and products! 🤩

A post shared by New Horizon Mall (@newhorizonmall.official) on Mar 8, 2020 at 11:54am PDT

With three anchor tenants and more than 100 stores open, approximately 110,100 square feet is now leased and New Horizon Mall is now 53 per cent leased with total retail space available at 204,975 square feet.

The Prairie Horizon Fresh Market has recently opened and Best Shop opened in July 2019.

The Torgan Group developed New Horizon Mall in conjunction with its partner, MPI Property Group.

“New Horizon Mall is here to stay. The developers have stepped up with initiatives promoting the mall, leasing incentives,” said Cannata. “With more than 53 per cent of all retail space in the mall leased, Prairie Horizon Fresh Market opening in early March and a massive family entertainment centre New Horizon Mall now has significant momentum.

*The Best Shop Opening. Photo: New Horizon Mall*

“(New Horizon Mall Inc.) owns and retains for lease 85,000 square feet of retail space, 27,000 square feet of storage space, and 2,200 square feet of kiosk space that is not developed . . . Plus we also own the underground parking area.

“The developer-owned space is at 86 per cent leased. There are negotiations going on now for another seven per cent of our space. Although the space size is not in the tens of thousands of square feet, the prospective tenants that I’m dealing with now will be significant traffic generators. Those negotiations are for another 4,000 square feet. And I have about 7,000 square feet left to go. Each of them is about 3,000 square feet.”

Cannata said the three anchor tenants will lead other retailers to open their doors in the New Horizon Mall. With leasing crossing the 50 per cent threshold for the entire mall, that’s going to promote additional tenant inquiries, he said.

“It’s all good news from our perspective. We’ve been waiting for something big and I’m pretty sure this is big,” said Cannata of the Sky Castle announcement. “It’s going to generate families and kids to come and see this.”

Mario Toneguzzi, based in Calgary has 37 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald covering sports, crime, politics, health, city and breaking news, and business. For 12 years as a business writer, his main beats were commercial and residential real estate, retail, small business and general economic news. He nows works on his own as a freelance writer and consultant in communications and media relations/training. Email: mdtoneguzzi@gmail.com.

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