Q&A: What does the Centre Square Mall’s new owner have planned?

The new owners of Centre Square Mall’s lower level say they want to create an environment that’s “more animated, more with-it” and more open to residents’ ideas.

“Any parties that have proposals, we’re willing to entertain them,” said Nunastar president Ed Romanowski. “That would be a big difference from what was happening before.”

Nunastar announced its acquisition of the Yellowknife mall’s lower level from a southern firm earlier this month. The mall’s upper level is still owned by a different company, and a gate exists across the concourse between the two.

Romanowski says that gate isn’t coming up yet, but Nunastar will try to improve the working relationship between the mall’s two masters.

“I think we’ll look to change what that relationship is,” he said. “We’ve reached out, and we’ve been the ones doing that reaching out.”

One action Nunastar did quickly take was shutting off the “mosquito device” that emitted a shrill whine at the mall’s parkade entrance, apparently to deter loitering. The company said “it had to go.”

Below, read a Q&A with Romanowski about Nunastar’s mall plans.

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This interview was recorded on July 17, 2025. The transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Ollie Williams: What was the impetus for Nunastar wanting to get involved in Centre Square Mall?

Ed Romanowski: We saw a big opportunity in Yellowknife to grow. We think there’s a big future in the Northwest Territories and given our presence for so many decades, especially with the Explorer Hotel, we thought it was time to make a big investment in Yellowknife.

Of course, we’re quite involved in Iqaluit as well. We believe in the North and we see big opportunities, especially as there’s a greater interest in the sovereignty of our nation, the resources, tourism, all the different opportunities in the North. So it was just a good fundamental investment.

We’re hearing these federal signals about Arctic sovereignty and security. On the other hand, we just saw jobs being lost at the Ekati diamond mine. How did you decide the time was right to make a pretty big financial commitment like this in Yellowknife?

I think there was an opportunity where the mall wasn’t being optimized and the office tower wasn’t being optimized.

And there’s the cycle for the downtown – what’s happening in downtown areas, especially smaller communities like Yellowknife, where big box retail, especially in the suburban areas, has been quite successful. Now, people are looking to be in places where there are more amenities, more opportunities. I think the downtown part of Yellowknife will be a bigger part of the future of the city.

So those are all factors, along with the general overall economy. We tend to be counter-cyclical investors, where we look at opportunities when we see growth in the longer term. Why invest when it’s at the top of the market? Invest when there’s the greatest opportunity.

You’ve got a neighbour in that mall. The upper level is owned by a separate company, there’s currently a gate between the two levels. What’s that relationship like right now? Do you guys know each other? Have you spoken to each other?

I think we’ll look to change what that relationship is. Yes, we’ve reached out, and we’ve been the ones doing that reaching out. That’s another thing we have to offer, northern hospitality and trying to work with more stakeholders – with the city, with all levels of government and the people of Yellowknife.

Whether or not that gate comes up, I guess it depends really on what uses we put into the mall area and what would be the best fit going forward. We are still figuring that out, so we’ll see what happens there.

For now, it’s going to stay down, because there isn’t that relationship that needs to be there in terms of sharing costs, dealing with security, dealing with the various things that impact operation of both mall spaces.

What kind of mall do you hope residents walk into in a few years, once you’ve had some time to really make some changes?

I’d say within a few years – two to five years – it will be fully utilized. It will have a wide variety of retail, community and institutional uses. We are pursuing all those different avenues. More animated, more with-it, comparable to malls of this stature or this type that exist in many other communities across North America, if not around the world.

There’s just a bunch of things that can happen in the mall and in that space to make it a much better community space. We’re really open to ideas and, if people are interested, we do have a website up for Centre Square and certainly would be interested in hearing from others. Any parties that have proposals, we’re willing to entertain them.

That would be a big difference from what was happening before. There was a lot of interest, actually, and there just wasn’t enough time spent with people to develop those ideas, trying to optimize them all for the community and ultimately make it the centre of downtown.

There are other developments occurring around the mall already, so there’s a number of things that can happen in terms of housing, retail, commercial, institutional, all the different types of uses that would revitalize downtown Yellowknife.

When you say institutional, it makes me think of things like Aurora College and the idea of a new campus. What are you meaning?

That could be a possibility.

We really look forward to working with all the different interests and stakeholders, and it won’t just be about what we do. It’s about what we can do together with the community. So we’ll be working with the chamber of commerce, with other downtown businesses, government.

We’re reaching out now and trying to meet up with as many of the stakeholders as possible, including the City of Yellowknife. The city administration has been great with us. Mayor Ben Hendriksen has been fantastic.

We really look forward to the opportunity to make the most of Centre Square and what it can mean to the community,