Revitalization of former Zellers underway
By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express
It’s been about seven months since the enclosed section of Five Points Mall at the corner of Taunton and Ritson Roads was demolished.
The section, which included the once bustling former Zellers/Target building, was purchased from RioCan by Dymon Group of Companies.
Dymon senior vice-president Steve Creighton says the plan is to build one of their “state-of-the-art storage facilities.”
The facility will offer “very high-end storage at a very economic price,” he adds.
“It’s basically an extension of people’s home. We have features such as total humidity and climate control,” Creighton says.
He expects the project to be completed by the end of 2019.
There will be some third-party retail stores included as well, although Creighton didn’t name any companies that would be setting up shop.
“We are still negotiating and hoping to have some announcements in the upcoming months.”
With the failure of Target to make waves in the retail market, the building had been empty for about three years.
Creighton says they originally hoped to build upon the existing building but found “it wasn’t going to be structurally sound” to meet the needs of a storage facility.
He shies away from using the term “mall” when speaking on the project.
“It’s going to be an extremely attractive addition. It’s really going to be a power centre – the traditional mall that it was will no longer be the case,” he says.
Dymon plans on building 80 facilities across the GTA, and Creighton says the location of the Five Points Mall was a perfect fit due to its vicinity.
“We don’t build in industrial parks or rural areas,” he notes. “Our facilities are usually adjacent to big box retailers and we like to be conveniently located.”
The majority of its existing sites are located in the Ottawa area, and Creighton claims they have cornered about 90 per cent of the storage market there.
The company is planning a location in Whitby and currently investigating another potential site in Oshawa.