I suppose they might be forgiven in that other major priorities have them occupied which they are reluctant to say. For Cadillac Fairview, it has been to fill the second floor with the new London Drugs. The former Zellers site as been a frequent site for changes and London Drugs is an anchor worthy of the mall. The next task is to fill the huge empty space left by the closure of the Hudson Bay Company.
For more than a year, Polo Park and St. Vital Centre has girded themselves for what was to come if and when The Bay closed. They both have filled spots in the former Sears locations but it can't be easy to backfill constantly major retailers that have collapsed. Sears Polo Park was a major anchor and it required some innovative thinking to fill the spot. Likewise, St. Vital Centre also needed so do some thinking to fill the spot left by Sears closing.
Cadillac Fairview would probably like to develop the properties they own where the old arena and stadium stood but is constantly having to work on the mall itself. While it remains the largest mall in the city, it is has lost some luster to Seasons of Tuxedo which continues to see more stores, restaurants, hotel rooms and and housing built. Presumably, all the things Polo Park wants. St. Vital Centre is pressed to expand anywhere. It is as hemmed in as you can get. Once they find something to fill the HBC spot, it will be interesting to see if they look to something different such as build up.
Polo Park's location along Portage Avenue and next to Route 90 could not be more well positioned for growth. Cadillac Fairview probably has another year or so till get their mall in shape. Once London Drugs is in place and The Bay filled in, I expect they will look at building the multi-unit housing that is in the plans. It is all so painfully slow.
As for Shindico, the actual construction of Costco after years waiting for the announcement is sure to trigger more of the development surrounding the big store through 2026. There are already large blocks of apartments and other residential units going up either side of Winnipeg and Headingley. Nearly all land preparation and traffic lights have been put in to support this development. One can imagine though that it is likely not enough. Already, Coscto has triggered Walmart Unicity to conduct a massive hundreds of thousands of dollars upgrade to their store. It is a huge improvement there.
All this development emphasizes the point that hundreds of millions are being spent on areas that have been waiting for years for work. The Costco in Headingley has been in the planning stages since before the pandemic. Now, it appears they are moving with haste on it as well and at the North Main Street location. The Polo Park location will become a Costco Business Centre.
The developer indicated that the new lower immigration rate, tariffs and other factors were contributing to the stall. There may be some clarity on the tariffs soon but it may be difficult to get to where we were in the last years with tens of thousands arriving each year. The truth is that immigration has been lowered because there was no capacity to house new arrivals. And capacity was a problem long before immigration was increased.
The federal accelerator program is now building affordable homes across the country that are shovel ready. This should be helpful as many projects, such as Polo Park, are more market driven and will not be viable for real affordability unless they receive some part of accelerator program money. The list of applicants is long. It is shocking how long projects take to get done. World War II was won in six years but building an apartment in Winnipeg can take a decade.
So much is happening in 2026. Portage Place becoming Pan Am Clinic, the Downtown Bay conversion, the old BMO Portage and Main becoming a museum, two Costco's being built and apartments all over the city. And Kapyong likely to take the next step on development. If Polo Park waits to long, they are likely to be passed by.
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