EDMONTON – The Edmonton International Airport (EIA) has entered into a conditional agreement with a property and development company to build an outlet mall on its land.
The conditional agreement would have Ivanhoé Cambridge lease 45 acres of land from the airport to develop “The Outlet Collection at EIA.”
If constructed, the retail outlet would be adjacent to the Queen Elizabeth II Highway, and would feature 85 brand name stores.
“The Outlet Collection at EIA will offer customers a comfortable environment and a new level of shopping experience that caters to all tastes and budgets,” reads a portion of a press release from the potential partners.
“Edmonton doesn’t have a full outlet mall yet, an enclosed outlet mall. So we looked at this market and thought it was a great fit with the airport,” said Myron Keehn, EIA Vice President of Commercial Development.
Kyle Murray, with the U of A School of Business, thinks the outlet centre will attract shoppers from across the province, making anyone who passes by on the QE2 a potential customer.
Keehn has even higher hopes, envisioning people coming to Edmonton or extending their layovers at EIA just so they can shop. Eventually, with still 235 acres of airport land left to be developed, Keehn sees EIA becoming a destination in and of itself.
Regardless of the outcome for the airport, Murray believes the development will be a win for shoppers.
“It just means more competition, harder for retailers, more of a battle for every consumer dollar.”
The developer, Ivanhoé Cambridge, is behind the CrossIron Mills outlet in Calgary and Vaughan Mills in Toronto.
The hope is to have the outlet mall open by the fall of 2016.
With files from Fletcher Kent, Global News