The Shoppes at Waterloo

RE-THINK, RE-BUILD, RE-DEFINE.  Over a decade ago, First Gulf purchased an old mall with an adjoining office tower, located just off of King Street South in Waterloo. The City, who owned substantial parking space surrounding the site, had shared their vision for the site with First Gulf – a vision which included attractive retail and civic space. Thoroughly examining every possibility, our team took action creating a site with street-facing retail and expansive, inviting gathering spaces. To make this plan a reality, we conducted a land swap deal, re-imagining the site plan and adding a road right through the site to improve accessibility and traffic circulation. 

Once a plan for the site was established, our construction team set to work demolishing half of the existing centre and refurbishing the remaining mall. The new design carefully married private retail space with welcoming public space, and our team worked closely with the consultant team to ensure that no detail of the 200,000 sf development was overlooked. In addition to these massive renovations, First Gulf built two new buildings, consisting of 60,000 sf of multi-level, mixed-use commercial and retail space, which border on King Street.

In just a few short years, this once forgotten site was transformed into a commercial and retail hub in the heart of uptown Waterloo which is now home to more than 40 exciting retailers. The accessibility and walkability of the site has made this an attractive location for large national commercial tenants, such as RBC and PwC, as well as first-to-market unique retailers. Thanks to the work of our team, an old shopping centre has new leases and new life, and the City has a beautiful, flexible new civic square which hosts everything from public celebrations to winter skating.