Decarie Square
 The main entrance of Decarie Square | |
| Location |
6900 Decarie Blvd. Cote Saint Luc, Quebec, Canada |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 45°29'28"N 73°39'1"W |
| Opening date | March 1977 |
| Owner | Canpro Investments Ltd. |
| No. of anchor tenants | 2 (Sears Liquidation, Winners) |
| Total retail floor area | 486,000 sq ft |
| No. of floors | 3 (includes office level) |
| Parking | Indoor & outdoor |
| Website | Decarie Square |
Decarie Square is a three story indoor shopping mall, with two floors of retail shopping and one floor of office space, located on the outskirt of Cote Saint Luc, a city in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
History
The mall was constructed in 1977 at a cost of over $20 million, under the ownership of Oshawa Group. Going back as far back as the mid 1980s, it has been described as a white elephant due its extremely high vacancy rate and low shopper traffic.[1] Even today, much space in the mall remains empty with 'for rent' signs plastered on vacant shop windows.
Stores and services
The mall includes the chain stores Winners & Home Sense, Sears Liquidation Center, Les Ailes de la Mode, Dollarama, Rubino and various independent discount and service shops. A repertoire movie theater (Dollar Cinema), a restaurant (Ernie & Ellie's), fitness gym and two video lottery gambling establishments are also situated within the mall. Government service offices of the SAAQ automobile license bureau, Saint-Laurent Local Employment Center and Service Canada employment insurance center are also found within the mall, as well as the Decarie Medical Center (currently under construction). The third floor is exclusively for rental office space.
Construction of medical center
By 2011, in an effort to re-purpose much of the vacant shopping space into a more profitable venture, the mall owner, Canpro Investments Ltd., moved ahead with a project to convert more than a fifth of the 486,000 square foot mall's retail space into a medical centre (spanning 3 floors) with room for doctors' offices. The construction and renovation cost is estimated between $10-million to $15-million and was started before any interested parties came forward or signed any leases; in essence a built-it-and-they-will-come strategy. The late David Azrieli, former head of Canpro, was quoted as saying "I'm willing to sign off that by August 2012 it will be ready and occupied."[2] As of August 2014, the medical center is still undergoing construction and only has two tenants (CDL Cardiology and Decelles Medical Center).
See also
References
- ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19861126&id=15A0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=SqgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4080,3012257 Montreal Gazette - Plaza Doomed from the Start, November 1986
- ↑ http://www2.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/business/story.html?id=e8750f49-6ccb-4988-b7ab-330baa37fd60 Montreal Gazette - The Changing Face of Malls, October 2011