Calgary's collection of decades-old malls are getting much-needed facelifts

Consumer demand is driving a wave of commercial real estate development in the city with several major shopping centres poised to get major makeovers this year and next.

Deerfoot Mall in the city's northeast, as well as Northland Village Mall and Stadium Shopping Centre in the northwest, are all in the planning or development stages of redevelopment.

Michael Kehoe, an Alberta-based retail specialist with Fairfield Commercial Real Estate Inc., said the collective changes reflect landlords' attempts to breathe new life into decades-old retail hubs, of which there are plenty in the city.

Redevelopment is being envisioned as a 800,840-square-foot mixed-use hub.

Marshall Tittemore Architects (MTa) confirmed it has submitted a development permit application for the redevelopment of the Stadium Shopping Centre that would create a proposed 800,840-square-foot mixed-use hub in Calgary's northwest.

Over the past nine months, MTA has been working in collaboration with current shopping centre owner Western Securities, as well as Stuart Olsen on the proposed development.

"MTa is excited to continue its support to the entire team in professing this proposed development in the near future, transforming this area into a social diverse mixed-use urban environment," the company said in a release.

Shopping communities within communities popping up all over Calgary

All over Calgary, a trend has begun.

Communities that once would've used a simple strip mall to provide residents with amenities are increasingly turning retail offerings into miniature town centres, plazas and High Streets, creating communities within communities.

Brookfield Residential recently announced its southeast community of Seton would be throwing their hat in the power strip pile, with plans for more than 800,000 square feet of retail space.

Citizens of the Calgary community of University Heights packed temporary council and two adjoining rooms on July 23 to listen in on a proposed area redevelopment plan (ARP) for Stadium Shopping Centre on 16th Avenue and Uxbridge Drive NW.

In council, Mayor Naheed Nenshi explained to the full house that all public submissions on the site were talking about density and land use, factors which were not on the table for the July 23 meeting.