Canada may be getting a new capital of luxury retail.
The site of a midcentury mall in Vancouver, B.C. is being reimagined for modern tastes. Oakridge Centre, opened in 1959, is becoming Oakridge Park, a five-million-square-feet development that will see a glittering assortment of luxury brands set up shop there.
The city’s first stand-alone boutiques by Maison Margiela, Miu Miu, and Christian Louboutin will be among the more than 100 retail outlets that are expected to open next year. Other high-end brands you’ll see include Louis Vuitton, Prada, Brunello Cucinelli, Moncler, Versace, and Max Mara, with more to join them. Tiffany & Co., Harry Rosen, and Coach—tenants of the original Oakridge Centre—have closed during the renovation but will return when the sprawling development reopens.
A view of the North Atrium, featuring stylish interior design
Courtesy of Oakridge Park
Beyond just shopping, Oakridge Park will include 3,000 residences, a nine-acre park on the roof of the mall, and 700,000 square feet of office space that can hold more than 3,000 people. Community centers, a library, an academy for the Goh Ballet, indoor and outdoor concert venues, plus the second Time Out Market in Canada are other new amenities joining the center. The latter will feature designs inspired by food halls in Europe and Asia.
QuadReal Property Group and Westbank partnered on the project, which began taking shape in 2017. The original mall was vacated and razed in 2020 to make way for the radical reimagining of the site.
The development’s location played a part in luring luxury brands to the project. Oakridge is an affluent neighborhood on the west side of Vancouver, and is situated between downtown and the international airport, which could help drive tourist dollars to the development as well. When it does open, it will be a far cry from the 1950s-era big-box mall that once stood there.
Authors
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Demetrius Simms
