Plan shows room for six new tenants in mall
Pine Centre Mall has made space for a half-dozen new tenants in the old Sears department store, a floor plan that is part of an application to city council to rezone a portion for a government-run recreational cannabis store.
Along with pointing out a 400-squaremetre (4,309-square-foot) spot in the southeast corner where the Liquor Distribution Branch hopes to open up the shop, it marks out spaces for five other stores.
One measures about the same size as the proposed spot for what could be the city’s second B.C. Cannabis Store, both with outside entrances.
It also makes room for three 335-square-metre (3,600-square-foot) stores, plus one 1,280-square-metre (13,780-square-foot) tenant in the southwest corner and capped with a 3,900-square-metre (42,000-squarefoot) tenant on the north end.
However, Pine Centre Mall marketing director Jessica Brown cautioned against reading too much into the image.
“Our team is working to get as many quality tenants into that area as possible, but we’re not releasing any names or any final floor plans until the leases have been signed,” Brown said.
The Sears at Pine Centre closed its doors in October 2017, creating a large void at one end of the mall.
In a February 2018 press release, mall owner Morguard said the string of Sears closures would put a damper on the viability of the country’s shopping centres over the short term but would be partially offset by a stream of new international entrants to Canada.
The company also said malls are being “re-envisioned as investors and landlords turn to non-traditional tenants including medical, services, entertainment and government agencies as part of their transformation into community hubs.”
The Liquor Distribution Branch’s application remains subject to a public hearing and then final approval by city council.
Staff is recommending approval, saying it is about one kilometre from John McInnis and Peden Hill schools, and separated from Pine Centre by Pine Valley Golf Course and Ferry Avenue, and over 300 metres from Prince George Secondary School, and separated by Massey Drive and “a considerable change in topography.”
An application to rezone sites at 7250 and 7574 Willow Cale Rd. measuring 14.9 hectares (37 acres) for a cannabis production facility has also been advanced to the public hearing stage.