This is part of a series called "Richmond under Construction" highlighting development in the city. Email [email protected] if you want to highlight an area in Richmond undergoing transformation.
The first tower at Richmond Centre is being built as the shopping mall's south end is transformed into a residential/retail complex.
The former Sears has been demolished and the parking structure will soon be gone as well.
The developer, Cadillac-Fairview, is demolishing a total of about 260,000 square feet of the mall, which includes the Sears building. However, the plan includes building more retail along No. 3 Road.
When fully built out, there will be 2,200 residential units in12 towers at the south end of the mall. This will include 150 affordable rental units and 200 market rentals, amounting to about 10 per cent of the total square footage.
When Richmond Centre was originally rezoned – in the 1980s – city council didn’t have a policy requiring affordable rentals like it does now.
But, in 2018, when Cadillac-Fairview, the owners, came with a proposal to start construction, they promised to build 10 per cent rental, a combination of affordable and market rentals.
Currently, the policy is that any new developments in City Centre must have 15 per cent dedicated as affordable rental units.
The mall redevelopment plans also include new roads through the development, including two named for Richmond RCMP Const. Jimmy Ng who was killed when he was struck on the side of the road by a speeding car in 2002.
These will be called Cst. Jimmy Ng Road and Cst. Jimmy Ng Place.
Retails shops will be built facing No. 3 Road, and there will be improved pedestrian crossings to the Canada Line Station.
As for redeveloping the north end, which isn’t owned by Cadillac-Fairview, no plans have come to city council to change anything.
In the meantime, the owners of Lansdowne Shopping Centre are expecting to bring their first proposal to city council in the fall for that mall's redevelopment. When fully built out, it's expected to have 4,000 residential units.
