‘

i, .

” WEST Van residents: Lorraine \Ward (above) a
driving ranges more than superstores at Park Royal. oO

‘ 4
al ‘ ‘ 4

' By Ian Nobie :

ctangu housing
the'cinema and bowling alley scream
suburbia. *: . ae
Only. the spotty grass of the two-

storey driving range retains any of the

natural element that. makes the
-_ municipality so attractive. i

* . But-even with the largely soulless

_ landscape there “now, mariy, West
ncouverites say it's better than tlic’

alternative — a trio’ of ‘big-box’

tail TS. ii. : ; -
‘When asked. what she thought of
‘Toys ‘R’ Us, ‘Home. Depot and

healt slh sin ceasian ateteen ithenteentalind a sent ie detn a a niaenatinadintas Aabtanen dh abtiaedabaiidori¢ shunt sna dee

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Park Royal Golf Centre, golfer
Lorraine Ward said: “It’s appalling.”
“We will have to drive a the way
over to North, Vancouver to hit a
bucket of balls.” she added while
putting her clubs in her.car’s trunk.
Ward said she likes ‘the. big-box
retailers, bute she worries the extra
cars will generate much more traffic
and parking congestion in the area,
“It wouldn’t bother me if there
was space for it,” said Ward, who
added it’s nice having a theatre and a
bowling alley in the neighborhood.
West Vancouver golfing buddies
Bert Rhind and Terry: Field would
rather see the area remain as is, even
though Rhind owns shares in Home

Vancouver as it has been for years: a
bedroom community.”

|. Both say chey can drive out to big-

box retailers in other communities,

Sterling Baumct and Angela

Lanziner strike a similar.sone.
Lanziner said shoppers can go to

Metrotown if they want those big-

NEWS photos Mike Wakefield
nd Bert Ahind like

pot. . a
Said Field: “I like to think of West

0

re

box stores.

Bauniet, 17, said the driving range
“rocks” and the Black Tusk restau-
rant has “bomb foud” (translaiion:
very Pood). ;

West Vancouver’s — Doroth
Hoemphreys said she worries that Par
Royse could become another
Metrotown, ,

Humphieys, who's a 70-year resi-

- dent. of Vancouver and » West

Vancouver, said things have’ to
change. When asked if the change is
good, her husband Chris said: “That
remains to be seen.”
When informed of 1 *k Royal’s
plan to welcome big-box retailers,
orth Vancouver's Hinbi Chong
said, “Really? That's awful.”
“It's ugly, We don’t need the big

big-box
| retail

: a ‘a

'
‘
‘

Sunday, July 20, 1997 ~ North Shoro News ~ 3

n’s

stores here,
“We = need
nore. reere-

ational, facilities .

like this,” she
‘said, pointing

‘to the driving:

range. |

She said a Home Depot is not
needed in West Vancouver because
there’s enough lumber stores on the
North Shore. ~

Inglewood Avenue resident David
Marley is steamed enough about Park
Royal’s plans that he’s willing to boy-
cott the mall's stores if the plans
come to fruition. ;

“The most infuriating aspect of
this situation: is that such a dramatic

change for the worse to the recre-

ational landscape of our home: envi-
ronment is being announced as a fait
accompli — with no apparent concern
whatsoever for the opinion of North
Shore residents,” he said,

Black. Tusk manager Nigel
D'Souza said the restaurant’ and pub
will get a new location in the mali,

IN 1989 Lageo's: 2.32
Investments Led. pur:
chased the Park Royal
Shopping Centre for
approximately $160 0
million, ye.

Since then, the mall, some: .
thmes referred to as, the;
Gateway, to West Vaticouver; :
fis been as consistent head-
Hneemaker; 8 ns
@ In 1991; 9°$20-millian
tedevelapinent® project” pros:
posal ‘led to the, 20-store pub

i¢ market dnd food court,

1 1993\'sie: months: after,
. Famous’ Players’. pulled? out,”
and lef West, Vincou!

out (a; movie” thedtre;
shoal Keached agreenient wit!
‘dn‘independéne ciitema opera
Etor to reopea’ the mall's triple
. screen cinema complex
* 1993 ar:

1 i

Seay

ng veyneret rats
Hs fed ie i
4 UAE ie ae ANAS

BG ete

is)

peat

sathy, De
“ f

ae

Aout,”

1.1 million square feet.

Posat

Royal te reach

At its present

ze. of 850,000 sq. ft. Park .

generates gross tetail dollars of approxi-

ui Iss retall O
mately $250 million to $300 million annually. .

The dollar volume puts the malt inthe top “fis

15%: of. regional’ malls” (retail. space ranging
from 600,000 sq. ft. to 1:4 million sq; ft.) in

ada.The planned expansion will bring it to”

million sq. ft

By comparison, Burnaby’s Metrotown cov-
ers 900,000 sq: ft. Eaton Centre Metrotown is
700,000 sq. ft...”
”* Larco Investment Ltd., Park Royal’s parent
company, will have spent $45 million on mall
revitalization when the dust setdes on con-

> struction of approximately 250,000 sq. ft. of

. single-storey retail space in an area immediate-
fy west of the existing Super Valu store at the

,. south mall,

» A leasing agreement is in place between
Larco and the Squamish Nation for the south
mall lands, The Squamish Nation and West

- Vancouver work with an operating agreement

.for the provision of services to the site. °

_ Said Park Royal General Manager Mick
Amantea, “As Chief Bill Williams stated at the
council meeting, the land here thar has been
occupied -by Park: Royal “has been under-uti-

atid 260 retail stores and ser-

NEWS photo Mike Wakefield

PARK Royal General Manager Rick Amantea shows a drawing of the West

Vancouver mall's planned expansion.

lized since the shopping centre was created.
They feel it’s important now for them to push
forward with a better utilization of the land in
order to maximize its potential and also gener-
ate more revenues for the Squamish Nation.”

Amantea would not reveal the details of
such benefits.

The mall extension will include seven to
eight retail stores. Big-box retailer Home
Depot will rake approximately 100,000 sq. ft.
Toys R Us stores generally require 20,000 to
25,000 sq. ft. of retail space.

According to Amantea, the West Vancouver

* store will be in thar ball park, PETSMART, “a

large-format pet supply store” announced for
the site, will be as big.

Amantea said he has no hard commitments
for the remaining available new space.

“We have lots of interest, but we are work-
ing through our plans to determine the best
complementary uses for the existing shopping
centre, We are focusing on stores such as large-
format linen stores and some niche stores
which would include stores that sell leisure or
recreational equipment and that type of a con-
cept.”

Amantea said the mail currently draws
approximately 75% of its business from North

Shore residents — the number is divided even-

rom Vancouver residents and 4% from: the
West End of Vancouver. Tourists account for
approximately 7% of Park Royal trafic and the,
balance comes from areas as far ;away ‘as
Langley, ; : .

On a typical week in Joly, 205,000 cus-
tomers visit the mall.“ ns ~

In its search for new tenants, Park Royal
targeted the kind of stores in which it is under-
represented in the local retail market.

Said Amantea, “Our research was really
quite surprising to us, What we found in the

area of home improvement, Park Royal as it.“

exists today does less than 5% of the total
North Shore expenditures'on home improve:

ly between North Vancouver and West +

xpansion makes mall biggest

Vancouver, The mall gets 7% of its business - :

ments. We believe that anywhere from 50% to! |.

60%. of those expenditures are going off the

North Shore and are being spent elsewhere. |
We believe by bringing in a store like Home °
Depot, we'll be able to capture a lot of those.
North Shore expenditures going off the North °

Shore.”

The numbers are about the same on the toy”

front.

“We're doing less than.5% of the total toy
expenditure on the North Shore. At least 80%
of that money is being spent off the North
Shore. We want to keep that money here,” said
Amantea, ;

The impending ‘loss this year of existing
entertainment facilities to make way for devel-

opment at the south mall site — a bowling:

alley, golf driving range and cinema — has left
some North Shore residents unhappy,

Bur said Amantea, “Ie comes down ta a
business decision. Obviously those types of
businesses are not the best and highest uses of
the land, We want to become first and fore-
most the best retail facility we can be.”

Amantea held out some hope for bawling

to continue to be available in some form at the.

mall.

On July 24 the West Vancouver Design
Panel will review the expansion presentation
made to council.

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