WORKS | Regional Development
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giant is slowly coming to life just south of Airdrie. CrossIron Mills is the largest shopping mall project Alberta has seen since West Edmonton Mall transformed the capital’s retail scene, and it, too, is bucking the trend of all-outdoor, car-dependent power centres. And it’s also only part of a larger plan that will ultimately include a racing entertainment centre, complete with track, and other commercial and industrial development in what’s called East Balzac. The CrossIron Mills property abuts Calgary’s northern boundary, but it’s still miles from the closest competing retailer or Calgary residential area. So that places Airdrie, less than five minutes to the north, more directly in the giant’s footprint. When plans for the mall were first announced, the media tried to play up the “fear and loathing” aspect among Airdrie business people. For some, these concerns still exist, while for others concern has been replaced by enthusiasm for what the mall might mean for Airdrie’s already booming economy. We talked to a number of Airdrie business and city leaders and clearly, for most, feelings are mixed as they weigh the benefits and the challenges. It’s an enormously complex issue, involving not just the new giant in the neighbourhood, but the region’s development overall. But first, what exactly will the new neighbour look like? John Scott, vice-president of development for mall owners Ivanhoe Cambridge, describes the genesis of CrossIron Mills: “In mid-2005, we started to look for a site in the Calgary regional area,” Scott says. “We wanted the exposure of the QEII, and to take advantage of the north–south trade corridor between Calgary and Edmonton.” Scott says CrossIron Mills will be unique from other enclosed malls, “a hybrid centre,” they call it, “with a combination of the best attributes of enclosed regional shopping centres, outlet centres, power centres and entertainment venues.” Unlike most malls that rely on one or two name-brand anchor stores, CrossIron Mills will have 17 anchors occupying from 20,000 to 150,000 square feet each. “We don’t have the traditional department 106 AirdrieLIFE | Fall/Winter 2008
stores,” Scott says. “Our premier anchor will be a 150,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shops [a sporting goods retailer], and it’s the uniqueness of those anchors and the overall merchandise mix that will bring in our customers.” CrossIron Mills is an adaptation of a concept launched earlier this decade with Vaughan Mills, a similar “super-regional” shopping centre in the suburbs north of Toronto. Scott says it will be a single-level mall covering 1.4 million square feet. Besides the anchors, another 200 smaller specialty retailers are planned. As of early summer, 77 per cent of the specialty retail and 80 per cent of the main anchor space had already been leased out, with the mall scheduled to open in August 2009. Down the road, CrossIron Mills will ultimately include a racing entertainment centre, developed and run by the United Horsemen of Alberta, housing a one-mile thoroughbred track and entertainment venues. Another 120 acres on the north side of the mall, coowned by Ivanhoe Cambridge and UHA, is earmarked for mixed-use office, commercial and hotel development. All told, 700 acres are being developed for the project, which Scott estimates represents a $1 billion investment, $400 million of that for the mall alone. Scott says an estimated 3,500 people will be employed by the mall (“one-third full-time, two-thirds part-time”), with a target of 5,000 employees once the racing venue is operational. Post time for that is 2010, he says. Last May, Ivanhoe Cambridge announced many of the planned tenants for the centre, including a mixture of retailers making their Alberta debut, and retailers opening their largest stores at CrossIron Mills. Besides Bass Pro Shops, other announced anchors include Holt Renfrew Last Call, Pro Hockey Life, Bed Bath & Beyond, Toys ‘R’ Us, The Children’s Place, H&M and Forever XXI. So the face of the giant is clear. What it will mean for Airdrie businesses, infrastructure and residents is rather less so. Kent Rupert, economic development team leader for the City of Airdrie, compares concerns over CrossIron Mills with the initial concerns over the arrival of Wal-Mart. “Usually when a big box moves into town,
Brian Roddick (left) and John Scott on the CrossIron Mills site
CrossIron Mills will be unique from other enclosed malls— a hybrid centre, with a combination of the best attributes of enclosed regional shopping centres, outlet centres, power centres and entertainment venues
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particularly something like Wal-Mart, there’s a syndrome of ‘the sky is falling,’” he says.“But even talking to our businesses after a year [after Wal-Mart’s opening], we found within that year some of their business dipped a little bit and then it skyrocketed.” Rupert says he doesn’t know if CrossIron Mills might siphon businesses that would otherwise have opened in Airdrie. “Looking through [the tenant’s list] it’s a lot of national chains, a lot of higher-end stores in some ways and outlet stores,” he says. “Would some of these have moved into our community? I’m not 100 per cent sure; a few could have moved here, but others I don’t expect would move to the Airdrie market per se—the mall is seen as [part of ] the Calgary market,” Rupert says. “Even though we’re just up the road,” he adds, “we’re seen as a different market.” All this suits Lisa Silvernagle fine. The owner of S’inStyle Women’s Wear Inc. says she actually considered relocating from her
Yankee Valley Crossing site to the new mall. “We decided against it for a few reasons,” she says. “People come to my boutique from across Calgary and Airdrie because we stand out and we are different from the box stores in all the malls. I don’t want to be the same as everybody else.” Silvernagle is confident her unique business will keep customers flocking to her, even as they check out the new mall. In fact, she feels the mall’s proximity to Airdrie is likely to draw potential new customers to her shop and to others in the city. “I truly feel that for Airdrie it will increase [customer] traffic,” she says. “People will go to the mall who may have never been north of Calgary before, and they’ll say, let’s check out Airdrie.” Airdrie Alderman Shawn Howard sees the mall as a catalyst of potential economic benefit for Airdrie.“I certainly hope it will attract people from around the region to spend
money, and as they’re doing activities in and around Airdrie, they’ll stop in Airdrie to buy fuel or go to a restaurant,” he says. “There is a lot of potential in this corridor,” he continues, “we have to make sure we plan it right.” Howard says the mall, coupled with other development in East Balzac, will likely “impact housing and future growth not just in Airdrie, but the MD [of Rocky View] and the city of Calgary.” He notes that “Balzac wants to build out to 40,000 people, which is bigger than Airdrie is today.” Airdrie–Chestermere MLA Rob Anderson says the mall will have a major impact on Airdrie and the MD in terms of generating employment. He’s quick to point out, though, that the mall is just one part of the larger development picture in the Edmonton– Calgary, or QEII, corridor—a zone straddling Highway 2 that is expected to see continued commercial, industrial and residential growth in the coming years. Fall/Winter 2008 | AirdrieLIFE 107