New owners have big plans for Riverview Mall
Mall to have fewer call centres, more fast food and residential spaces
An aging piece of New Brunswick's retail landscape is set to undergo a massive renovation.
The Riverview Mall was recently sold to two new owners, Tier Too Properties, a division of Doucet Developments, and Gray Group real estate development.
The owners have plans to revitalize the retail space and add several multi-residential buildings to the Coverdale Road property.
Right now, much of the mall is empty, as two former call centres have moved out, leaving Giant Tiger and CIBC as the remaining tenants.
Doug Doucet, CEO of Doucet Developments, said the company plans on demolishing 140,000 square feet of retail space to build the residential units, while turning the rest of the property into a strip mall, as well as adding several construction pads for fast-food restaurants.
He said the property is attractive because of the space that can be reused in combination with the high cost of new construction.
"We're a smaller real estate firm. So when we get into these situations, we kind of have to make it work," said Doucet.
Doucet said while the mall does have a high vacancy rate, there are still businesses that could remain in place and the company will work with them on next steps.
"We haven't even gotten to the point where we're working with tenants to see who wants to stay and if they want to stay, we're going to work around them," he said.
"Everybody that has a space in the mall, who wants to stay, will have a space."
While it was an attraction in its heyday in the 1980s, when it was anchored by several retail businesses and twin cinemas, the mall has diminished in importance as retail has moved to other areas in the town.
But Doucet said the site is still attractive.
"We've already got I think four or five tenants that are very interested," he said.
"We've only taken over the property in the last couple of months. So it's very active already. People are wanting to be in that area of town."
He plans to have work underway in the retail areas of the property by no later than next spring, he said, but it could take longer for residential work to begin as the town is still reviewing zoning changes for the site.
With files from Khalil Akhtar