Whitchurch-Stouffville
November 13, 2008 10:26 PM
Jim Mason
Stouffville’s big box centre won’t be home to the smaller stores its developer wanted.
Whitchurch-Stouffville council last week unanimously rejected an application to allow small retail units at the Hoover Park centre.
The power centre, at Hwy. 48 and Hoover Park Drive in southwest Stouffville, is already home to Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire, restaurants and two other retail stores.
The proposal was made by Calloway Reit (Stouffville) Inc. The property is owned by SmartCentres and Geranium Corporation.
The consortium has invested $120 million in the project, senior project manager Josh Kaufman said.
He asked that minimum retail store size of 5,050 square feet in the development be waived for 15,000 square feet of space.
Retailers, including EB Games and card maker Hallmark, have asked about space, he said.
The request started at 60,000 square feet last year and was reduced to 48,000, 20,000 and, on the night of the council meeting, 15,000.
“The landscape is different than in 2005,” Mr. Kaufman said, using terms including “recession”, “market downturn” and requests for “rent reduction”.
He called the project “a disgrace”, noting 270,000 of 470,000 square feet of stores have been developed.
A similar SmartCentres project off Hwy. 404 in Aurora developed 500,000 square feet in two years.
But, councillors were unsympathetic.
“My attitude will be, a deal is a deal,” Councillor Ken Ferdinands said. “I have a problem with changing the rules in mid-stream.”
The development also was not to include a grocery store but one was eventually added to Wal-Mart, Councillor Clyde Smith said.
“Something happened, somewhere,” he said.
Councillor Phil Bannon noted the growing number of vacancies in downtown Stouffville.
Town CAO Dave Cash said interest in vacant downtown units has softened during the last four months.
Town planner Andrew McNeely asked council not to “undermine the blueprint”.
That includes a healthy downtown and Main Street strip.
“Make sure you are looking at the big picture,” he said. “We don’t have to panic. All the good positive indicators are there. It just may take a little longer based on the current economic climate.”
The Stouffville BIA, the downtown Main Street merchants association, backed council’s rejection of the request in a letter from chairperson Eric Button.
Former downtown merchant Sara Marsala, who closed her Main Street tea room this year, said sales of gifts in her store dropped by 20 per cent after Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire opened.
“We believe in the strength of the downtown,” Mr. Kaufman said. “I walked it two days ago and actually felt quite proud.”
SmartCentres only deals with national chains and is not interested in recruiting retailers who would locate downtown, he said.
Plans call for several other buildings on the property, including complexes on Hoover Park between Boston Pizza and Tim Hortons.
Where Rona was to build a store, east of Wal-Mart, SmartCentres hopes to build three mid-sized stores, Mr. Kaufman said.
The size restriction does not apply to restaurants on the site.
SmartCentres, Canada’s largest retail developer and operator, “opens a new shopping centre every three to four weeks,” according to its website. There are more than 185 SmartCentres across the country.