Capilano Mall's old Sears to be transformed into a giant indoor bike park

Capilano Mall's old Sears space to be transformed into a giant indoor bike park

Artistic rendering of North Shore Bike Park inside the former Sears store at Capilano Mall in North Vancouver. (West Coast Bike Parks)

After sitting empty for five years, the former Sears department store at North Vancouver’s Capilano Mall will trade its previous configuration of clothing aisles and shoe racks for looping ramps and tracks of a massive indoor bike park, named North Shore Bike Park.

“There has been a need for indoor spaces like this for a long time, and when we’re making use of spaces that have been otherwise unused and converting them to a facility that benefits the community, I think people realize that it just makes sense,” Mike Upton, the founder of West Coast Bike Parks, told Daily Hive Urbanized.

So far, he says, the feedback from the community has been “overwhelmingly positive.”

The reason for the local mountain biking community: The all-season attraction will be British Columbia’s first indoor bike park of its kind.

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The first phase is the indoor bike park, spanning an area of about 65,000 sq ft on the former department store floor, with ceiling heights of 15 ft. Bikers can expect wooden structures that form the biking terrain to be “more flowy, pumpy, and jumpy, akin to riding cross country or a lot of the downhill on the North Shore mountains.” Two pump tracks are also planned for this vast space.

Additionally, the rooftop of the department store is being eyed for a 50,000 sq ft seasonal outdoor experience.

North Shore Bike Park will also offer basic supporting amenities and services, including bike and equipment rentals, some food and beverage, a lounge inside the park, and a bookable room.

Artistic rendering of North Shore Bike Park inside the former Sears store at Capilano Mall in North Vancouver. (West Coast Bike Parks)

There will be regularly themed events such as “ladies and girls only,” the basics of “learn to jump,” and evening programming, as well as opportunities for special events such as birthday parties. Endless Biking, a team of North Shore mountain biking instructors, is involved in ensuring all programs meet the instruction standard of PMBIA certified.

As well, his group has partnered with not-for-profit Family Services North Shore to offer cycling opportunities for the people they assist. Both the indoor bike park operator and mall owner Quadreal Property Group have donated space inside the former department store for the purposes of Family Services.

“Probably one of the largest differentiators in our park model is that the facility is meant to be more of a community centre for all things cycling,” said Upton.

“There will be reasons, many of them free of charge, to visit the park even if not to ride a bike. In that effort especially we’d like to work with any organization or business that could conceivably make use of the flexible space we’ve designed into the park.”

sears capilano mall closure january 2018

The closure of the Sears department store at Capilano Mall in January 2018. (Lawrence Strand/submitted)

Upton’s partners include professional mountain bikers who are now established business owners, including executives in the high-tech and financial sectors, lawyers, and property developers and leasing brokers. They are looking to bring in more individuals or organizations in being additional investors or partners in programming and philanthropy.

Upton notes that his team has received some guidance from other major indoor bike operators across the country, including BLine in Calgary and Joyride 150 in Markham.

If there is a comparable facility that can be used as an example of what to expect, he says North Shore Bike Park will have some resemblances with Ray’s Indoor Bike Park in Cleveland, Ohio.

North Shore Bike Park is currently targeted for an opening in early 2023.

Ray’s Indoor Bike Park in Cleveland, Ohio. (Ray’s Indoor Bike Park)

Ray’s Indoor Bike Park in Cleveland, Ohio. (Ray’s Indoor Bike Park)

With all that said, Quadreal has plans to redevelop Capilano Mall, but a redevelopment is still likely many years away, with planning work currently only in the early stages. Any redevelopment would also likely be carried out in phases.

The property owner conducted its first highly preliminary public consultation on the future redevelopment in late 2019, at which point it indicated its desire to turn the site into a range of housing types and living options, renewed retail, and new community gathering space.

Quadreal indicated that since March 2020, the pandemic put their plans to conduct further public consultation on hold. An application has yet to be made to the City of North Vancouver, and a redevelopment design concept has not been made.

“Quadreal has been as much a partner as a landlord and have been very helpful in moving the project forward,” added Upton.

“We expect to be working with them on our expansion plans. In the near term, at Capilano Mall, we will be there for the mall’s lifetime and have plans to be part of the redevelopment whenever that occurs.”

Quadreal, the property investment division of BC pension fund BCIMC, is also the owner of The Post (former Canada Post) and Oakridge Park (Oakridge Centre) redevelopments in Vancouver.

Exterior of Capilano Mall in North Vancouver. (Capilano Mall)

Exterior of Capilano Mall in North Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Capilano Mall spans 15 acres at 935 Marine Drive — located at the southwest corner of the intersection of Marine Drive and Hanes Avenue. It currently has about 70 businesses, with the major businesses being BC Liquor Store, Vision Electronics, Fit4Less fitness gym, Urban Planet, Dollar Tree, and anchor retailer Walmart. There is also a small food court.

The shopping centre first opened in 1967 with now-defunct retail chain Woolco and Supervalu as the anchor tenants. Sears and a parkade opened as an expansion in the 1970s, and another major upgrade and expansion to the mall was conducted in the 1980s. In the 1990s, Walmart bought Woolco, and replaced the chain’s location at the mall. A renovation was conducted to the Walmart in the 2010s, adding a major grocery section. Sears closed at the mall in January 2018, as part of Sears Canada’s complete shutdown.

Unlike its rival Park Royal, Capilano Mall only has a handful of major apparel and clothing retailers, and most of its businesses are service-oriented.

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

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

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