Nunastar, the owner of Yellowknife’s Explorer Hotel, says it has bought the lower level of the city’s downtown Centre Square Mall.
In a Thursday news release, Nunastar said it “plans to revitalize the mall as part of the city’s overall ambition to spark more development of office space, retail and services space, residences, and a greater variety of businesses in the city’s core area.”
Centre Square Mall is split into two levels. The upper level, facing 50 Avenue, is separately owned and operated by Nova Scotia-based Holloway Lodging Corporation.
Previously, Ontario-based Slate Asset Management owned the lower level.
The two levels are currently separated by a gate drawn down across the concourse, which some residents view as an emblem of the mall’s dysfunctional recent past, marked by vacant units and little customer traffic.
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However, some new stores and restaurants have moved in over the past year. There has been talk of a new era in the mall’s history.
“Our goal is to put the ‘centre’ back in Centre Square,” Nunastar chief operating officer Ben Cox was quoted as saying in Thursday’s press release.
“The property needs a new vision and we intend to commit the resources to make this happen.”
Nunastar has established a website for the mall’s lower level. The deal also sees Nunastar assume possession of the office tower associated with the mall.
Mayor of Yellowknife Ben Hendriksen, quoted in Nunastar’s press release, welcomed the company’s investment in Centre Square Mall, calling Nunastar a “long-term committed player that continues to deepen its investment in Yellowknife.”
Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce president Mark Henry called the purchase “a strong vote of confidence by an experienced real estate investor towards making downtown Yellowknife a more attractive place.”
