How Oxford’s Yorkdale Built an Exceptional People-Centric Retail Experience

Best in Building HealthHealthy Building ProfilesStrategies & Solutions
Written By Marcos Reynaga

Photos courtesy of Yorkdale Shopping Centre (Toronto, Canada).

We’re delighted to congratulate Yorkdale Shopping Centre for creating an exceptional people-centric retail experience and being the first Canadian retail project to achieve Best in Building Health recognition!

AT A GLANCE

Building Owners: Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) & Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (OMERS)

Building Manager: Oxford Properties Group

Award: 2022 Highest Scoring Project, Retail v2.1 (Built)

Project: Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Toronto, Canada

Fitwel Rating: 2-Star

Oxford Properties acquired Yorkdale Shopping Centre in 1998 and has since transformed it into a premier people-centric centre that attracts more than 18 million customers a year. The 2 million square foot space housing 270 stores includes numerous health-promoting strategies, including advanced air filtration and cleaning systems and protocols, natural day-lighting, and facilities and programs for customers with functional needs, nursing mothers, and young families.

Under Oxford’s management, it has tripled sales volume and net operating income, quadrupled asset value, and achieved industry-leading customer loyalty. With productivity at $2,226 per square foot and $2 billion in annual sales, it ranks first in Canada for the highest productivity and is the first Canadian retail project to achieve Best in Building Health recognition!

Image: William Correria, Director of Yorkdale Shopping Centre.

Learn more about their success and commitment to health, well-being, and innovation directly from William Correria, Director of Yorkdale Shopping Centre.

Which Fitwel strategies make Yorkdale stand out?
Some standout community-related examples include implementing a MicroHabitat rooftop vegetable and herb garden that donates produce to The Stop Community Food Bank and creating a community map of local amenities and resources which is available at the new entryway systems at multiple entrances. We also set up a fresh produce delivery program with Fresh City Farms.

Inside the centre, we incorporated greenery throughout and implemented a publicly accessible water bottle filling station in the food court. Specifically for our employees, we gave desktop plants offering views of nature, and installed active workstations complete with helpful educational materials. Additionally, a quiet room in the operations office is open to all, and a multipurpose room in the adjoining office building is available for holding wellness events.

 
Healthy Building Profile: Yorkdale Shopping Centre

To read more about the strategies at Yorkdale, check out our in-depth Healthy Building Profile.

How does Fitwel align with the mission and values of Oxford Properties?
Oxford has a renowned reputation for leadership in sustainability and prioritizing the well-being of all visitors to our assets. Our commitment is to incorporate world-class features and amenities in our buildings that support the success of our customers and help them live healthy and active lives. And that is exactly what we’ve done at Yorkdale.

Earning the prestigious Fitwel Certification is the shopping centre's latest step in its ESG strategy that prioritizes its people, property and environmental safety. It is also a testament to these efforts, and to our commitment to benchmark where we are and continually enhance our health and well-being standards. Certification is a valuable tool for surpassing expectations and promoting progress as a healthy building.

About Oxford Properties Group
Oxford Properties Group connects people to exceptional places, and is the owner, developer and manager of some of the world’s best real estate assets. Established in 1960, it manages approximately C$60 billion of assets across the globe on behalf of its co-owners and investment partners. Oxford’s portfolio encompasses office, retail, industrial, hotels and multifamily residential and spans more than 100 million square feet in global gateway cities across four continents.  A highly disciplined and thematic investor, Oxford invests in properties, portfolios, development sites, debt, securities and platform opportunities across the risk-reward spectrum. With its global headquarters in Toronto, Oxford operates out of over 15 regional offices including New York, London, Luxembourg, Singapore and Sydney. Its long-term approach to real estate investment aligns Oxford’s interests to its customers and the communities in which it operates. Oxford is owned by OMERS, the AAA credit rated1 defined benefit pension plan for Ontario's municipal employees.

For more information on Oxford, visit www.oxfordproperties.com  

To learn more about Yorkdale Shopping Centre, visit www.oxfordproperties.com/our-impact/yorkdale-shopping-centre  

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Marcos Reynaga
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