The Rideau Centre’s recently announced expansion plan, a massive, $360-million investment aimed at making room for major retailers such as Nordstrom, Victoria’s Secret, and Quebec-based Simon, has nearby Centretown business districts cheering the potential new infusion of downtown shoppers.
The Rideau Centre’s redevelopment plan, expected to cost about twice the price of building the nearby Ottawa Convention Centre, will add 230,000 square feet of retail space – mostly on the fourth floor – as well as a three-level underground parking garage.
The plans include a 35,000-square-foot “dining hall” with 16 “premium branded” restaurants and seating for up to 850 people, as well as reusable eco-friendly plates and cutlery.
According to Rideau Centre general manager Cindy VanBuskirk, the expansion aims to take advantage of the recent increase in downtown residents.
“Now that you have so much residential development downtown on both sides of the canal, the Rideau Centre almost becomes like a community shopping centre… a critical mass of retail that gives people reason to shop in this area of downtown.”
A few streets over, amidst ongoing construction work in Ottawa’s central business district, are the retailers and service providers of major Centretown commercial hub Sparks Street.
Well aware of the Rideau Centre’s plans, Sparks Street BIA executive director Les Gagne says that although his district has other things in mind, he welcomes the potential influx of shoppers that the expansion might bring into the area.
“I think any kind of traffic and business you can bring downtown is good for everybody, and it’s up to us to take full advantage of what we have to offer to people when they come down.”
While some may expect the redevelopment to be detrimental on the more modestly sized business districts in Centretown, Gagne says Sparks Street will continue to attract consumers with its unique collage of shops. For him, it all comes down to this: the Rideau Centre doesn’t have what Sparks Street has to offer.
Recently, Sparks Street has undertaken a facelift of its own, with an objective to become a “really neat and diverse centre for people to come and shop, get a bite to eat, be in a safe environment and socialize.”
He says the retail area features “a lot of really eclectic, exclusive products that you can only get on Sparks Street. That’s where our offering is going to be a lot stronger than Rideau.”
A similar response is echoed a few blocks south by Bank Street BIA executive director Christine Leadman. “There’s always going to be competition. Competition is not necessarily bad, if it’s done well,” she says.
She is confident that Bank Street businesses will not be hurt by the competition down the street because, like Spark Street, Bank Street’s retailers simply offer different things.
“What we are seeing in Rideau, is that you’re bringing in the big American box stores,” she says of clothing retailers Nordstrom, JCrew and the yet-to-be confirmed H&M. “But for the type of diverse businesses that we have on Bank, we are going to be more relevant to the people in the city that are looking for something unique, as well as a price point to fit their wallet.”
But neither Leadman nor Gagne deny that the Rideau Centre dominates much of the flow in the downtown area, largely because of transit routes. This may be intensified since the planned expansion includes two light-rail access points, dropping commuters from different parts of the city directly at the mall’s doors.
Still, there is an opportunity for everyone to get a slice of the pie, the so-called trickle-down effect that can mean prosperity for all downtown businesses.
“It’s an opportunity for the entire downtown to flourish,” says VanBuskirk.