This dead-end Oakridge Park mall corridor will soon funnel thousands of people past fast food and service-based businesses daily

For shoppers wandering through the newly opened retail levels of Vancouver’s new Oakridge Park mall, there is one particularly unusual space, though only temporarily over the very short-term.

Running beneath the shopping centre’s main levels is a long underground corridor lined with storefronts, planters, and seating areas. It is bright, spacious, and already partially occupied by tenants.

Yet at one end, it simply stops — a dead end marked by shuttered glass doors.

Currently, the corridor terminates at the glass doors with decorative hoarding covered with Oakridge Park branding and floral artwork. Beyond those locked doors, construction continues on the major expansion and upgrade of Oakridge-41st Avenue Station on SkyTrain’s Canada Line.

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As previously reported by Daily Hive Urbanized over the years, this underground corridor will become a direct below-grade connection between the indoor mall and the subway station’s existing ticketing concourse level. It will provide Oakridge-41st Avenue Station with a secondary entrance — in addition to the street-level entrance, which is also being completely overhauled with a new large visually-striking, glass-covered timber canopy for expanded weather protection, two additional escalators (including the station’s first down escalator from street level), and a new elevator.

The underground corridor is located on the same level as the P1 parking level and can be accessed from the mall’s north atrium.

The north atrium is served by escalators and elevators, and also includes seating areas where visitors can wait or linger. In addition to being one of the two main vertical circulation points connecting shoppers to the underground parking levels, this atrium also accommodates the valet parking service and serves as a pick-up and drop-off area for ride-hailing and taxi vehicles.

Unlike the luxury-focused retail offerings found on the mall’s upper levels, the underground corridor is largely oriented toward service-based businesses and more everyday retail offerings, including some quick-service and fast food options.

Purdy’s Chocolatier is currently the corridor’s most visibly prominent tenant, as it is located immediately adjacent to the north atrium. Other businesses that have already opened include Oval Optical, Wireless Wave, and Petit Pont, which is a luxury clothing retailer specializing in baby and children’s apparel. Along the portion of the corridor before the closed glass doors, additional businesses preparing to open include Gold Key, Mophead, Alive Health Centre, The Nails, Lush Brow Bar, Shifeon Health & Beauty Cosmetics, and Token Toy Emporium.

Beyond the glass doors, future tenants will include the underground level of Scotiabank, which will also have a ground-level presence facing the public plaza above, as well as Teriyaki Experience, Umi Sushi Express, A&W, and Cha House Bubble Tea. Trees Cheesecake & Organic Coffee will occupy the retail unit closest to the station’s ticketing concourse.

All of the retail units along the corridor have been fully leased, but the businesses occupying several of them remain unknown at this time.

Next to Petit Pont and opposite of Wireless Wave, this corridor also features washrooms — effectively providing the subway station with publicly accessible washrooms.

The segment of the underground mall corridor that is already open to shoppers represents just half the length of this retail-lined corridor leading to the subway station.

This summer, the entire station expansion and upgrade project is expected to reach full completion, including the opening of the secondary entrance through the underground mall corridor. Construction on the station overhaul first began in September 2024.

Instead of having to go up to street level and be exposed to inclement weather, thousands of Canada Line passengers each day will be able to use the direct underground connection between the station and Oakridge Park.

The cost of the station expansion and upgrade is being covered almost entirely by Oakridge Park owner and developer QuadReal Property Group. TransLink has also contributed funding, specifically toward the installation of the additional escalators serving the street-level entrance.

These major improvements will provide Oakridge-41st Avenue Station with ample long-term passenger circulation capacity to accommodate growing ridership. The upgrades are intended not only to serve visitors to Oakridge Park’s retail component, but also the development’s approximately 5,000 on-site jobs, more than 6,000 residents, and major attractions such as the 7.5-acre destination rooftop public park and the 100,000-sq-ft civic centre. A future second phase of Oakridge Park with mixed-use retail and residential uses is planned for the west side of the property.

Within the first phase of the mall complex that opened in late May, a number of remaining retailers, restaurants, and other food and beverage services are expected to open this summer through Spring 2027. The civic centre, which includes community, recreational, and cultural facilities and a Vancouver Public Library branch, and the condominium and social housing units will also be ready next year.

Over the coming weeks, Japanese hand roll bar restaurant Hello Nori will open at the plaza just outside the main entrance — providing the mall’s second dining option after the Time Out Market food hall. This summer, the 50,000 sq. ft. Safeway grocery store will also open in an underground level accessed from the south atrium.

The expanded station will also be positioned to support the substantial growth planned beyond the mall property itself over the coming decades, including additional high-density development within the regionally designated Oakridge Municipal Town Centre, as well as the future Mayfair West (former TransLink trolley bus depot) and Heather Lands (former BC RCMP headquarters) developments a few blocks to the west and north, respectively.

In 2024, Oakridge-41st Avenue Station recorded 2.33 million annual boardings, according to latest available TransLink statistics, making it the 24th busiest station in the SkyTrain network’s 54 stations. This station averaged 7,100 boardings on weekdays, 5,400 on Saturdays, and 4,300 on Sundays/holidays.

Those figures remain below pre-redevelopment and pre-pandemic levels. In 2018, before major construction began on the Oakridge Park project and before large portions of the former mall were closed, the station recorded 2.9 million annual boardings. At that time, it averaged 8,600 boardings on weekdays, 7,300 on Saturdays, and 5,800 on Sundays/holidays, ranking as the 23rd busiest station in the network.

Over the last few years, some of the station’s ridership decline resulting from both the pandemic and the closure of much of the former mall was likely partially offset by the influx of thousands of construction workers building not only Oakridge Park, but also several adjacent developments. Many of these workers have regularly been seen commuting to the area by public transit.

Station ridership has also been supported by the R4 41st Avenue RapidBus, which has quickly become one of TransLink’s busiest bus routes since its launch in early 2020 and now ranks second system-wide, with many passengers transferring between RapidBus and the Canada Line at this juncture point.

You might also like:
• Renderings of the design of SkyTrain Oakridge-41st Avenue Station's expansion
• An in-depth look inside the new Oakridge Park, the rebirth of Vancouver's second major mall
• First look inside the highly anticipated Time Out Market Vancouver
• Oakridge Park and Time Out Market grand opening draws huge lines and crowds
• Big area of Oakridge Park mall's 7.5-acre rooftop urban public park opens