New Oakridge Park mall and its first 100 retailers to open in Spring 2025

Artistic rendering of Oakridge Park's new indoor mall (Revery Architecture) and the SkyTrain Oakridge-41st Avenue Station upgrade at the mall's entrance (Henriquez Partners Architects).

There is finally light to the end of the tunnel for the much-anticipated project of the new massive Oakridge Park shopping centre in Vancouver.

It was officially announced today that the grand opening for the major first phase of the Oakridge Centre redevelopment is scheduled for Spring 2025.

While major construction work first began in 2019, it was a decision made in Summer 2020 that fast-tracked a significant portion of the mixed-use development’s completion by about two years. The previous storied mall at the 28-acre site is no more, and has been replaced by a completely new and expanded shopping experience that introduces a wide range of dining, office, residential, community, and public park uses.

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In addition to the opening date, the first new standalone shops announced for Oakridge Park are luxury brands Louis Vuitton, Prada, Brunello Cucinelli, Moncler, Versace, Max Mara, Maison Margiela, Miu Miu, Christian Louboutin, and Alexander Wang, which builds on the previous mall’s role as Metro Vancouver’s second hub for luxury retail — after downtown Vancouver, particularly Alberni Street.

More retailer, restaurant, and service business announcements will follow as 2024 progresses.

Altogether, by Spring 2025, 650,000 sq ft of leasable retail space with over 100 businesses will open.

2024 updated artistic rendering of Oakridge Park’s new indoor mall. (Revery Architecture/Westbank/Quadreal Property Group)

Previous preliminary artistic rendering of the new indoor mall at Oakridge Park. (Revery Architecture/Westbank/Quadreal Property Group)

Previous preliminary artistic rendering of the new indoor mall at Oakridge Park. (Revery Architecture/Westbank/Quadreal Property Group)

Oakridge Park is one of the largest assets held by Vancouver-based Quadreal Property Group, which acquired the mall in 2017 for its redevelopment and long-term returns for its pension fund parent entity. The project is a partnership with Westbank.

“I think the location at Oakridge Park is so unique that it actually attracts global luxury retailers that not many locations in Canada can support, so it is certainly unique in that way,” Chrystal Burns, the executive vice president of Canadian retail for Quadreal Property Group, told Daily Hive Urbanized in an interview.

“I feel that the other shopping centres we have across the portfolio are fantastic in their own right and how they meet the demographic needs of where they’re located. The mix of tenancies, the uses… we love to support local, we love to support what the Canadians living there want to see will frequent, and I think that for Oakridge, we really do see an international interest that we often do not see at other centres.”

In fact, according to Burns, they have more offers from businesses to open a presence at Oakridge Park than they have retail space to lease.

This is due in part to the previous mall being one of Canada’s best-performing shopping centres — consistently ranked among the top two malls in Canada, based on sales per square footage. Some previous retailers are set to make a comeback at this location.

She asserts Oakridge Park is future-proofed and strategically designed for the evolution of retail by providing an “immersive” and “interactive” experience that supports the retail, with the introduction of the major focuses of food, wellness, and the integrated major public park, along with beautiful architecture.

“It’s very encouraging and supportive of the strategy that we have been seeking at this asset. We have more offers to lease than we have space to lease, and that is not often the case across the planet where you have such strong demand. We’re very blessed,” Burns told Daily Hive Urbanized.

“The retailers that were [previously] there did exceptionally well, and we know that they have faith and they see the vision, and they are coming back to this neighbourhood because they know this is a great spot for retail to flourish.”

oakridge park oakridge centre mall 2022 rendering

2022 artistic rendering of the revised design of the Oakridge Park (Oakridge Centre) redevelopment. (Westbank)

oakridge park oakridge centre 2021 rendering

2021 updated artistic rendering of Oakridge Park (Oakridge Centre): rooftop public park. (Henriquez Partners Architects/Westbank/Quadreal Property Group)

Preliminary artistic rendering of the indoor mall entrance and new office building at Oakridge Park. (Henriquez Partners Architects/Quadreal Property Group/Westbank)

April 2022 artistic rendering of the northeast parcel of Oakridge Park (Oakridge Centre). (Henriquez Partners Architects/Quadreal Property Group/Westbank)

She says up to 10% of the leasable retail space will be dedicated to wellness, fitness, and spa, particularly a yet-to-be-announced large-scale wellness/fitness social club in a space that is accessible from the rooftop public park. This will complement the City-owned community centre being built as part of Oakridge Park.

Burns also hinted there will be upcoming announcements on sports/sporting equipment retailers, along with other flagship and boutique retailers, and food and beverage businesses. As well, within Oakridge Park, there will be a new flagship ballet academy space for the Goh Academy.

As originally announced in November 2022, Canada’s second Time Out Market food hall location will open at Oakridge Park, which will replace the traditional food court concept. The popular international food hall chain will also open in Spring 2025 along with the other retailers.

Time Out Market Vancouver will now span just one level with 51,000 sq ft of space, containing a curated high-quality cultural mix of 17 live cooking kitchens, with a wide range of cuisines, three bars, and a coffee shop, along with a stage, and art and cultural spaces. The mezzanine, the upper indoor level, will include a signature cocktail lounge, an event space, a demonstration kitchen, and open up to a 10,000 sq ft patio on the rooftop public park.

Hudson’s Bay will be returning to Oakridge Park as an anchor business with a new department store concept, based on a 2018 agreement that saw Quadreal Property Group provide Hudson’s Bay Company with $172.5 million to amend the retailer’s long-term lease dating back to the mall’s Woodward’s era. At the time, it was stated that at least $21 million would go towards outfitting the new store’s interior.

Burns says Hudson’s Bay is currently timed to open in Spring 2025 as well, and they will make their own formal announcement at a later date.

Another major retailer returning to the mall is Safeway, which will provide the neighbourhood with a major grocery store similar to the size of the previous mall’s store — adjacent to a Signature BC Liquor Store. Both businesses will also open in Spring 2025.

2020 artistic rendering of the rooftop public park at Oakridge Centre. (Henriquez Partners Architects/Quadreal Property Group/Westbank)

Preliminary artistic rendering of the rooftop public park at Oakridge Park. (Henriquez Partners Architects/Quadreal Property Group/Westbank)

Preliminary artistic rendering of the indoor mall entrance from the rooftop public park at Oakridge Park. (Henriquez Partners Architects/Quadreal Property Group/Westbank)

Preliminary artistic rendering of the outdoor retail portion of Oakridge Park. (Henriquez Partners Architects/Quadreal Property Group/Westbank)

2022 artistic rendering of the revised design of the Oakridge Park (Oakridge Centre) redevelopment. (Henriquez Partners Architects/Quadreal Property Group/Westbank)

The Spring 2025 opening accounts for 650,000 sq ft of leasable retail space. Altogether, upon full buildout, Oakridge Park will have 850,000 sq ft of leasable retail space for over 140 businesses. She says the precise timeline for the remaining 200,000 sq ft of leasable retail space will be determined by market conditions, but it will be forthcoming.

Oakridge Park’s leasable retail space accounts for approximately 70% of the 1.2 million sq ft of retail uses permitted for the redevelopment under the site’s rezoning. The remaining 30% (about 350,000 sq ft) is set aside for extensive circulation and common spaces, including the grand north and south atriums, internal mall corridors, and other major non-leasable indoor spaces. This total square footage represents a doubling of the size of the previous mall.

Common spaces throughout the indoor mall and especially the rooftop public park are designed as event-friendly spaces, including spaces designed in mind for live music, festivals, and other performances and activations.

The vast majority of the public park spanning nine acres on the rooftop of the mall is scheduled for a Spring 2025 opening, too. Burns says the park’s opening is timed with the new community centre with a new replacement and expanded Vancouver Public Library branch.

The five-storey, 100,000 sq ft community centre is being built within the base of a 22-storey social housing tower at the northwest corner of the mall site. According to Burns, the project’s main contraction contractor, EllisDon, will hand over the social housing tower with 187 units and community centre to the municipal government in late 2024 or early 2025, at which point it will be up to the City to open the facilities for public use.

EllisDon will also hand over the first major phase of leased retail spaces later in 2024 and early 2025, which enables the separate contractors and suppliers for each individual business to take over the space to furnish it to the specifications of the business in time for the Spring 2025 opening.

Similarly, the first four residential towers will be ready for occupancy in 2025.

Beyond retail, as part of the overall five million sq ft redevelopment, Oakridge Park will have 10 residential towers with over 3,000 homes for more than 6,000 residents, including nearly 1,000 secured purpose-built rental homes. Significant additional rental housing was approved by the municipal government in 2022, following a revised rezoning application — one of the numerous major design changes the project has seen throughout its history dating back to the late 2000s.

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December 2023 construction progress on Oakridge Park. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

oakridge park mall construction december 2023

December 2023 construction progress on Oakridge Park. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

While Henriquez Partners Architects is responsible for the overall redevelopment design, Revery Architecture is behind the interior design of the mall.

The base podiums of various residential towers across the site will also contain 700,000 sq ft of office space — enough space to support about 3,000 jobs.

To support shoppers, office workers, and other visitors, Oakridge Park’s first two underground levels will feature approximately 2,000 free vehicle parking stalls.

Major enhancements to Oakridge-41st Avenue Station on SkyTrain Canada Line are also currently in progress and timed for a Spring 2025 opening, says Burns.

Currently, the station has just one entrance — a street-level entrance located at the mall’s plaza entrance at the southwest corner of the intersection of Cambie Street and West 41st Avenue.

Just in time for the mall’s grand opening, a new secondary station entrance will be created through a new underground retail-lined corridor between the station’s ticketing concourse and the mall’s north atrium under an expansive skylight. The existing street-level entrance will be upgraded as well, with the addition of a down escalator, as there is currently only an up escalator.

As part of the transit hub improvements, a large awning is being built along the mall’s West 41st Avenue frontage — framing the plaza, and as an extension of the station’s street entrance — to double as weather protection for the eastbound bus stops, including the stop for the R4 RapidBus.

April 2022 diagram showing the underground transit concourse corridor between Oakridge Park (Oakridge Centre) and SkyTrain Oakridge-41st Avenue Station. (Henriquez Partners Architects/Quadreal Property Group/Westbank)

April 2022 artistic rendering of the northeast parcel of Oakridge Park (Oakridge Centre). (Henriquez Partners Architects/Quadreal Property Group/Westbank)

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