Retail and real estate analysts believe large retailers such as Walmart or Target could start pushing for construction of a new mall on either of two downtown blocks that are ripe for redevelopment.

Canada Post’s sale in January of its long-time Vancouver headquarters to BC Investment Management Corp. (BCIMC) has opened up the block bounded by Georgia, Homer, Dunsmuir and Hamilton streets.

Two blocks east is Larwill Park, which is owned by the City of Vancouver and bounded by Georgia, Cambie, Dunsmuir and Beatty streets.

The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is hoping to convince the city at a meeting, likely to be held in early March, that it should be given the site – which some estimate to be worth $200 million – to build a new $300 million gallery.

After months of expansion in the British Columbia market, SpaceList launched its commercial real estate listing platform across Canada this week.

Based in Vancouver, SpaceList is now available in cities such as Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal. Finally, commercial real estate listings will be aggregated in a single place, making it easier for businesses to find a new location. In the past, those looking for space had to search through dozens of different websites, each displaying different information in different formats.

SpaceList has solved this problem by building the MLS for commercial real estate. With over 60 Million square feet of available space for rent across Canada, businesses and individuals can see more options in one place than ever before. Landlords and brokers can add their listings in minutes, and as a result, hundreds of new spaces are added each week.

Read more: http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1118859/spacelist-launches-marketplace-for-office-retail-and-warehouse-space

North Shore Outlook – Massive Squamish Nation mall may be coming to North Vancouver in 2014.

A lot has been said lately about the Squamish Nation and its government’s land development plans.

But amid all the talk about condo towers beside the Burrard Bridge and new high-rises at Park Royal, one project coming quietly down the pipe may well trump them all.

It concerns 30 acres of land on the Squamish Nation’s Seymour Creek reserve near the Second Narrows Bridge, bracketed by Mt. Seymour Parkway, Dollarton Highway and Seymour Creek.

Currently home to the Real Canadian Superstore, Seymour Creek Golf Centre, an automotive yard and the Squamish administrative offices, the reserve may soon house a massive mixed commercial-residential development unlike anything the North Shore has seen.

Read more: http://www.northshoreoutlook.com/news/191066181.html

As reported in the Financial Post today, Best Buy Canada will be closing 15 stores nationwide, following the lead of it’s counterparts in the US in an effort to reduce costs and focus on outlets with a smaller footprint.

Best Buy…”, which is closing stores in the British Columbia, Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta and Ontario markets, will open a substantial, but unspecified number of its smaller Future Shop web stores and new Best Buy Mobile locations over the next three years across the country.”

The two Metro Vancouver locations affected are as follows:

• Queensborough Landing in New Westminster
• Morgan Crossing in South Surrey