It's been an expensive year in the name of progress for Devonshire Mall.
Windsor's largest shopping centre underwent a $70-million facelift that included a new food court and several other amenities.
General Manager Chris Savard tells AM800 News the mall will look much younger than its age, it opened back in 1970.
"Front to back, top to bottom, we've literally changed every square foot of flooring, every square foot of ceiling. We're not quite done, but that will finish up probably at some point in July [2019]," he says. "The reviews we've been getting from our customers and our tenants so far have been extremely positive, so it's been a busy year for us on that front."
Sears stores across Canada closed last January after the company declared bankruptcy, leaving Devonshire Mall in an interesting position.
Having predated the mall, the building was owned by Sears Canada.
Savard says after a long negotiation Devonshire now owns the department store sized property and can develop it as it sees fit.
"We're actively out now kicking tires and looking for options in terms of the reset of the Sears space, the timing kind of worked out well, we'll just finish the renovations then on to the reset of the Sears box," says Savard.
Mall General Manager Chris Savard at the opening of the food court. June 27, 2018 (Photo by AM800's Teresinha Medeiros)
Anyone walking through the old food court location doesn't see much, yet, but Savard says there's a lot going on behind the temporary walls.
He says it will soon be a bustling multi-use courtyard surrounded by new shopping options.
"We re-opened Cinnabon, they did a reset as part of the renovations the former food court and have gone to a bigger space around where they were before," he says. "Mobile Clinic has opened a store as well and we're certainly working on a number of deals now and we expect we'll have some announcements for those in the New Year."
Devonshire Mall was last renovated in 2008.