Sudbury, Ont., mall gets green light to convert space to service online shoppers

The downtown Sudbury mall now known as Elm Place received approval this week for a rezoning application to allow the mall to convert some retail space into warehouse, distribution and commercial self-storage facilities.

Elm Place has been a staple for shopping in downtown Sudbury since the 1970s. But officials said since the COVID-19 pandemic, retailers have been vacating the building as more shopping moved online.

Mall owner Vista Hospitality realized something needed to be done to fill the space.

“Retail has been, definitely, shifting to e-commerce in the last 10-15 years,” said Vista Hospitality’s Samer Ghazi.

“The best option was, we thought, that if we have the spaces available for warehousing, that will help the retailer. It will help, you know, bring in more use to downtown core.”

A total of 75,000 square feet of space at the mall will be converted to warehouse and storage space for online deliveries.

But Ghazi said he wants to reassure the public that more than 81,000 square feet will remain as retail space.

He said the decision isn’t something that happened overnight – preparations have been underway for a while.

A total of 75,000 square feet of space at the Elm Place mall in Sudbury will be converted to warehouse and storage space for online deliveries for online retailers such as Amazon. (Photo from video)

“We have already loading docks available, so warehousing will be ideal for repurposing of these spaces,” Ghazi said.

“The process, it took about three years. There were a lot of challenges, and we had to adjust the floor plans a little bit here and there. (And there was) the process of doing … the noise impact study, the compatibility study and the traffic study.”

Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann said the city needs to support businesses as they adapt to new market realities.

Business flexibility

“I think we need to look at business flexibility and we need to support our businesses,” Landry-Altmann said.

“I think this is one way of doing it. And like I said, I do not see any issue coming up that would negatively impact that area that could not be resolved. This team is very positive and very dedicated. I mean, he's been the owner for 23 years now. So that speaks for itself.”

Ghazi said the leasing process takes time so it could be two to three years before an anchor tenant is secured.

• Download our app to get local alerts on your device
• Get the latest local updates right to your inbox

He provided case studies that showed Amazon has converted upwards of 25 malls in the U.S. into distribution centres, showing there is demand for spaces like this.