Outdoor bazaar aims to reflect diversity, bring shoppers to northeast Calgary

A new open-air market-style retail centre, which is being built in northeast Calgary this summer, is adding another ethnic shopping destination to that part of the city.

Savanna Bazaar is a 92,000-square-foot project being built on a corner of land in the new community of Savanna.

Royop Development Corporation says it's modelled on traditional bazaars and markets in South Asia and the Middle East, but a key difference is that businesses will own their own retail spaces.

"I think it's going to draw people from all over the city," Royop development director Jacob Weber said.

"It's going to be a great hub for the community when it opens and in the future as things continue to develop around it."

He added the area will be home to new condos, medical services, a big grocery store, other commercial space and a future LRT station.

'Exciting format'

The concept is similar to the much larger New Horizon Mall being built north of the city near CrossIron Mills, in that business owners will buy space instead of leasing.

"We realized leasing and owning ourselves was maybe not the right thing to do for the market," Weber said.

"It's something that really seemed to connect to the demographic in that part of town," he added. "It's a really exciting format."

New Horizon is a much bigger a 320,000-square-foot site that will feature 500 independently owned stores and food stalls, selling goods from all over the world.

They're similar to projects in much bigger cities, such as Toronto and Vancouver.

Both projects present opportunities for the South Asian community's many entrepreneurs, Ward 5 Coun. George Chahal said.

"Savanna Bazaar is a great opportunity to open their own business, whether it's a restaurant, food store, a jewelry or clothing store," he said.

Chahal said he hopes ethnic retail, along with the northeast's array of restaurants and cultural diversity, might bring a few more visitors from other parts of the city.

"Northeast Calgary is such a diverse area and people are attracted to that diversity and so many cultures bring so much vibrancy to the area," the councillor said.

"We've seen exceptional retail and commercial development occurring in northeast Calgary, and also the residential communities that are growing at such a fast pace."

Construction on the project begins this summer. Developers expect it will be completed by Summer 2019.

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