Outlet mall coming to Kanata

RioCan REIT and Tanger Outlet Centres Inc. recently purchased 50 acres of land in the city’s west end to construct the region’s first outlet mall near Highway 417 and Palladium Drive, close to Scotiabank Place

 The property is expected to sport 350,000 square feet of retail space when completed.

Chief executive for RioCan, Edward Sonshin, stated "Our site in Ottawa represents an exciting opportunity to expand our co-ownership platform beyond Toronto, into other key Canadian retail markets,"

Names of potential tenants and the anticipated purchase price were not disclosed in a release.

Most Ottawans these days tend to take the short drive to Syracuse and Watertown, N.Y., to shop to take advantage of the strong canadian dollar as well as the low taxes. This will be a nice alternative with less of a commute.

Bayshore Shopping Center's expansion

Bayshore got approval from the city's planning committee this week on a massive expansion bringing it's rental space from the current 754,00 sq.ft to more than 1,000,000 sq.ft as well as adding additional parking spaces. The first stage of construction which is slated to start in the spring of 2012 would bring the rentable area to approximately 915,000 sq.ft. The expansions are estimated to be about $150 million.

This expansion will have positive effects on the housing in the area, including a face lift valued at $40 million on a housing area across the road from Bayshore named Accora Village which houses over 7,000 residents. Thus increasing home values in the area.

There are still plenty of approvals left to get from the city but the project is off on the right foot.