KANATA HOOKS THE BIG ONE
Bass Pro Shops to be anchor tenant in huge development
News that a Bass Pro Shops is scheduled to open in Ottawa has yanked back the curtain on much larger development plans that include another massive retail project a stone’s throw from Canadian Tire Centre.
Bass Pro Shops announced on Wednesday its plans to open in 2015 as the anchor tenant in a new development that will be led by Broccolini/Laurentide Holdings on Huntmar Drive, just north of Hwy. 417. Ottawa commercial real estate experts said the previously unannounced development is expected to be huge.
A 120,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shops store mixed with other construction already announced for the area will bolster development in Kanata North, allowing the Ottawa suburb to boast more commercial construction activity within its borders than all the rest of Ottawa.
“That’s including Lansdowne, the extension of Bayshore, the extension of Rideau Centre and St. Laurent Shopping Centre,” said Barry Nabatian, director of market research for Shore-Tanner & Associates.
“That area is going to have more growth than the rest of the city combined. Ottawa has reached a level of population where it can now support these kinds of things.”
No one from Broccolini would comment on the news Wednesday. The company has been working to keep its plans for the land under wraps.
According to City of Ottawa documents, the developer owns more than 50 acres.
Thanks to the recent construction in Minto’s Arcadia subdivision, which will eventually place 1,700 homes across the street, and Tanger’s massive outlet mall, which will be next door, Broccolini’s plot is now fully serviced and ready for construction.
The location will also play host to a stop for the city’s eventual extension of the light- rail transit system, making it the ideal spot for a large shopping centre.
“They couldn’t have picked a better location,” Nabatian said. “North Kanata, in particular, is really underserved when it comes to retail.”
The new development will bolster a deluge of construction already going on in the area. To its north, Tanger is busy building an Americanstyle outlet mall with more than 80 shops in its 350,000 square feet of retail space. Tanger has already applied for phase two of the project to build a hotel and several restaurants on the site.
Ottawa is of particular interest to retailers. The average household income is $98,000, and more than 40 per cent of households bring home more than $100,000 annually, making the capital one of the wealthiest cities in the country. Ottawa shoppers spend more than $15.3 billion on retail annually.
Ottawa shops collect, on average, $475 per square foot in retail sales annually. In other Canadian cities, shoppers spend between $250 and $350 per square foot annually.
While Broccolini wouldn’t reveal what it had in store for the new retail destination, the last Bass Pro Shops built in Ontario was a 140,000-square-foot anchor tenant in the 1.4-million-square-Vaughan Mills Shopping Centre, which has more than 250 stores and helped to attract the LegoLand Discovery Centre to the Toronto area.
A vast majority of Bass Pro Shops are within massive retail complexes.
The Ottawa shop will be the chain’s fifth in Canada.
The store will feature many of the attractions that have made other Bass Pro Shops popular, including numerous aquariums and ponds, log and rock work throughout the store, a bowling alley and restaurant, other water features stocked with native fish species and an extensive collection of museum-quality fish and wildlife mounts. Historic photos and exhibits will pay tribute to the region’s outdoor heritage.
More than 116 million people a year visit Bass Pro Shop’s 81 stores across North America.
Kanata North Coun. Marianne Wilkinson said the news of Bass Pro’s opening was kept secret. She didn’t even find out Tuesday night. She said she supports development in her ward and confirmed that the city has been in talks with Broccolini for some time but that nothing official has been proposed by the company.