North Vancouver’s 1960s Capilano Mall plans for redevelopment

North Shore News

The managers of Capilano Mall are planning for redevelopment of the 1960s-era mall.

QuadReal Property Group has begun consultations on exactly what the redevelopment will entail.

“It’s time to consider the future of the site and determine how it can better suit the needs of residents of the City of North Vancouver and the North Shore for the next 50 years,” a statement on the company’s website reads.

There is no timeline for when a rezoning application may go to the City of North Vancouver, but the company has laid out some general expectations following earlier outreach in the summer.

“In June and July 2019, we engaged with 851 North Shore residents and workers. People told us that they love the North Shore’s connection to nature and the outdoors, and that they want accessible public transit and more diverse housing options,” the statement continued.

If the plan advances, it would be the latest of a string of Lower Mainland malls to pursue mixed-used redevelopment, along with Park Royal, Metropolis at Metrotown, Brentwood Town Centre, Lougheed Town Centre, and Oakridge Mall.

Cap Mall originally opened in 1969 and went through expansions and renovations in the ’70s and ’80s. Sears, one of its two anchor tenants, went bankrupt in October 2017.

The mall’s last assessment came in at $123,701,000, with buildings making up just $780,000 of that evaluation of the 653,836-square-foot site.

QuadReal is the property management/development arm of the British Columbia Investment Management Corp., a public employee-owned pension investment firm.

The company is hosting an open house for residents to view the Capilano Mall plans on Thursday, Dec. 5 from 4 to 8 p.m. in the mall’s grand court, next to Starbucks. They have also launched a public feedback survey at capilanomall.com/thinkingcap.

Representatives for Capliano Mall and QuadReal did not return calls to press time.