11 towers up to 40 storeys proposed for Capilano Mall redevelopment | Daily Hive

11 towers up to 40 storeys proposed for Capilano Mall redevelopment in North Vancouver

November 2024 preliminary draft concept of the Capilano Mall redevelopment. (Quadreal Property Group)

The North Shore of Metro Vancouver could see its largest high-rise tower development at the site of Capilano Mall in the City of North Vancouver.

Quadreal Property Group has now revealed its preliminary draft concept for how its proposed redevelopment of the 16.5-acre indoor mall shopping complex could look.

As can be expected, the existing complex, first built in 1967 (with further expansions in 1974, 1986, and 2001), would see a phased demolition and redevelopment into a mixed-use district with residential being the overwhelming primary use.

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There would be up to 11 towers ranging in height from 12 to 40 storeys, with the tallest towers generally located near the core of the site, plus low- and mid-rise base podiums attached to these towers.

Approximately 3,100 homes are proposed, with 30% of these units set aside as secured purpose-built market rental housing and 10% as secured purpose-built mid-market rental housing. The entire residential component would span approximately 2.8 million sq ft of total building floor area.

Currently, the existing indoor mall has 420,000 sq ft of leasable commercial retail/restaurant space, with much of this space under-utilized/vacant. The largest existing anchor tenant is the 120,000 sq ft Walmart Supercentre, while a portion of the former Sears department store wing reopened in 2023 as the 65,000 sq ft indoor North Shore Bike Park. Furthermore, the existing mall has 2,000 vehicle parking stalls from surface lots and parkades.

Location of Capilano Mall in North Vancouver. (Quadreal Property Group)

Existing condition:

Existing condition of Capilano Mall in North Vancouver. (Google Earth)

Existing condition of Capilano Mall in North Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

capilano mall north vancouver redevelopment concept quadreal november 2024

November 2024 preliminary draft concept of the Capilano Mall redevelopment. (Quadreal Property Group)

For the redevelopment, there would not be a new replacement indoor mall, as the focus will be creating new ground-level retail/restaurant uses that activate the street frontages of Marine Drive, some new internal roads, and 3rd Street West. The envisioned commercial uses include retail, restaurant, brewery spaces, bakeries, artist studios, and creative services.

This includes a new north-south, pedestrian-only street lined with commercial storefronts, running down the site between Marine Drive and 3rd Street West.

3rd Street West on the southern perimeter of the site would be reimagined as “South Village High Street” — described as a “lively high street with a mix of retail, restaurants, and services.

The developer notes that they are exploring options to retain and relocate Walmart as an anchor tenant, with the draft master plan concept suggesting the big box retailer could be located within a large commercial space in the base podium of a tower fronting Marine Drive. Currently, Walmart is situated within the southern half of the property.

But overall, the commercial component of the redevelopment would be smaller than the existing indoor mall, with a total floor area of 152,000 sq ft or just over one-third of the existing mall’s leasable commercial space.

Existing condition:

Existing condition of Capilano Mall in North Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

November 2024 preliminary draft concept of the Capilano Mall redevelopment. (Quadreal Property Group)

The entire redevelopment is conceived as two distinct neighbourhoods, with the northern half featuring a new public park and community centre near the northwest corner of the site. The community centre would span a floor area of between 20,000 and 30,000 sq ft.

The community centre would front Marine Drive, while the new 1.5-acre public park would be directly connected to Mackay Creek, which forms the property’s western border and would be enhanced with new and improved naturalized areas as a part of the redevelopment. This new public space involves the closure of the existing segment of Hamilton Avenue that runs along the property’s edge.

The proposed floor area ratio density would reach a floor area that is four times the size of the property’s land area, which pegs the potential total building floor area at nearly three million sq ft. When the park space, naturalized areas, plazas, pedestrian sidewalks, and internal roads are all accounted for, about 52% of the entire site will be used as open space.

This would be a transit-oriented development, with the project promising “transit hub” improvements to Marine Drive, where the bus stops are located. About half a dozen TransLink bus routes currently serve the block, including the R2 Marine Drive RapidBus, which will, over the coming years, see a route extension across the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge to reach Brentwood Town Centre and Metrotown in Burnaby. Over the longer term, the R2 RapidBus could be upgraded into Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), street-level Light Rail Transit (LRT), or possibly even SkyTrain.

November 2024 preliminary draft concept of the Capilano Mall redevelopment. (Quadreal Property Group)

More broadly, Quadreal envisions turning the Capilano Mall site into a “vibrant town centre” and a notable western “gateway” into the City of North Vancouver, given that the municipal boundary line for the District of North Vancouver is just to the west.

To achieve this project, the developer will need to pursue an Official Community Plan (OCP) amendment, with this process starting with the submission of a formal detailed application in Spring 2025. This will then lead to a formal public consultation process led by the municipal government in Summer 2025 and the creation of an updated master plan concept based on public input before the public hearing in Fall 2025. City Council is expected to make a decision on the application in late 2025 or early 2026.

This planning process for Capilano Mall’s redevelopment first began before 2020 but was delayed due to the pandemic.

Quadreal is also behind the Oakridge Park (Oakridge Centre) mall development in Vancouver and owns and operates other notable properties such as the new The Post (Amazon) complex in downtown Vancouver and Willowbrook Shopping Centre in the Township of Langley.

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