It's not just condos and office towers that make up the seemingly constant growth that Toronto is seeing these days. Another of the sectors that is seeing a huge amount of investment is our retail sector, including the major regional malls that pull shoppers to their climate controlled passageways, typically lined with hundreds of stores.

In Toronto's west, where the QEW, 427 and Gardiner all meet in Etobicoke, is Sherway Gardens. This Cadillac Fairview owned mall with about 200 stores is in the midst of a multiphase expansion which over the next few years will add about a quarter million more square feet of shopping space and 45 more stores and restaurants. While some existing retailers at Sherway including Harry Rosen are upgrading to larger premises, many new ones are arriving, including one of Toronto's first Nordstroms and one of the first Saks Fifth Avenues, both American department store chains that are expanding across the border.

View of the North expansion at Sherway Gardens, image by Craig White

One of the major relocations within Sherway Gardens will be for Gourmet Fair, the mall's extensive food court currently housed below the signature teflon-coated tent roof on the south side of the complex. The food court will be moving to the north expansion behind these huge new windows, while Sporting Life will set up in an adjacent space. The 2015 Sporting Life and Gourmet Fair moves will allow their space to be redeveloped for Nordstrom in a subsequent phase. The teflon-roofed tent will be preserved as part of that remodelling, with Nordstrom expected to open in the Spring of 2017.

New Gourmet Fair food court window being finished, image by Craig White

Saks Fifth Avenue will open in the Spring of 2016 in some of the space that was formerly Sears at the east end of the mall. Sears sold its lease at Sherway back to Cadillac Fairview, and closed in February of this year.

According to Retail Insider and other sources, several other new retailers are expected in the expansion including Porsche Design, H&M, Zara, Kate Spade, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Eileen Fisher, and others, plus restaurants Joey and P.F. Chang's.

It was initially announced when the new Holt Renfrew location was announced for Square One, the Sherway location would close. That is no longer certain, but it is not yet known whether Holt's Sherway store will remain, or expand, or actually close as first planned. 

New retail space being created at Sherway Gardens, image by Craig White

While the mall is increasing its footprint, new parking decks are being built to accommodate vehicles as well. The first of three decks in the northwest corner of the mall is now close to being complete.

The first of three new parking decks nearing completion, image by Craig White

Want to know more about the Sherway Gardens expansion? UrbanToronto's dataBase file for the project, linked below, includes many renderings of what is to come and more information. Want to talk about it? Choose the associated Forum thread link to get in on the discussion, or leave a comment at the bottom of this page.