Malls · Canada

Penhorn Mall

Name: Penhorn Mall
Address: Dartmouth, Canada

Imported, unreviewedRedevelopedOperatingDartmouth, Canada

Opened 1974. Redeveloped in 2008.

Status nowOperatingextracted, unreviewed

documented

The centre currently operates as a 144,889 square foot shopping plaza, owned by Crombie REIT.

en.wikipedia.org

What it becameretail, housing, office, healthcareextracted, unreviewed reported

Site size441,651 sq ft GLAextracted, unreviewed reported

Retrofit year2008extracted, unreviewed reported

Rail within 800 mNoOpenStreetMap, HUD

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Solid = from the authors' map · outlined = public source · dashed = model-written, not yet reviewed by a person. Tap any value's source label to see where it came from. documented = a quoted excerpt (click to read it) · reported = a source named, no excerpt yet · no source.

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Site profile7 elements · what this retrofit is built with · tap a chip for the evidence

Former anchors

Sears

This site: Sears wikipedia · all sites with this

Woolco

This site: Woolco wikipedia · all sites with this

Finance and pipeline

On Facebook

This site: …https://www.facebook.com/127096827689199 overture · all sites with this

Strategy

Redeveloped

This site: The centre currently operates as a 144,889 square foot shopping plaza. extraction · all sites with this

New use

Housing

This site: …e foot shopping plaza. Construction began on the Opal Ridge residential development in 2022, after being delayed for multiple years extraction · all sites with this

Office

This site: …new_use field extraction · all sites with this

Retail (continued)

This site: The centre currently operates as a 144,889 square foot shopping plaza. Construction began on the Opal Ridge residential dev extraction · all sites with this

All elements and lists · Trends

Now

Status	Operatingextracted, unreviewed documented The centre currently operates as a 144,889 square foot shopping plaza, owned by Crombie REIT. en.wikipedia.org
Strategy	Redevelopedextracted, unreviewed documented In May 2008, Crombie REIT announced they would transform the mall into an exterior shopping plaza, anchored by a new Sobeys and existing Sears. en.wikipedia.org
New uses	retail, housing, office, healthcareextracted, unreviewed reported
What is there now	The centre currently operates as a 144,889 square foot shopping plaza.extracted, unreviewed documented The centre currently operates as a 144,889 square foot shopping plaza. en.wikipedia.org
Retrofit year	2008extracted, unreviewed reported
Redeveloper	Crombie REITextracted, unreviewed reported

Planning

Planning notes	Construction began on the Opal Ridge residential development in 2022, after being delayed for multiple years. The development is currently in the middle of construction as of 2026, with the first residential towers and townhouses being completed in late 2025.extracted, unreviewed reported

Site context

Transit within 800 m	no rail station; 15 bus stops within 400 mOpenStreetMap
Motorway junctions within 2 km	Braemar Drive;Main Street, Breamar Drive, Gordon Avenue, Micmac BoulevardOpenStreetMap
Overture Maps	place Penhorn Mall Shopping Centre (shopping_mall, confidence 0.83, from Overture, meta); building footprint 5,187 m², 6.69222354888916 mOverture (CDLA-Permissive 2.0)
Website and social	no website listed · social: facebookOverture / Internet Archive
Attention: Wikipedia page views	363 since 2015; 363 in the last 12 months; peak 2026-08 with 135Wikimedia

Summary, model-written

Penhorn Mall opened in 1974 as an enclosed shopping centre, expanded in 1982 and renovated in 1990, but began losing anchors with Walmart and theatre closures in 2007 and Sears shutting in 2017. After a 2008 announcement to convert to an exterior plaza, the Sears wing was demolished in 2010 and the site now operates as a 144,889‑square‑foot shopping plaza owned by Crombie REIT, while the Opal Ridge residential development has been under construction since 2022.

Why. The record shows anchor losses (Walmart, theatre, Sears) and the demolition of the Sears wing as the primary drivers for the mall’s decline and subsequent redevelopment; no explicit mention of competition, debt, or other causes.

Where it stands. The site currently operates as a shopping plaza under Crombie REIT ownership, with the Opal Ridge residential development still under construction as of 2026.

For a planner

Redevelopment strategy includes mixed‑use (retail, housing, office, healthcare) as per the site’s plan.
The Opal Ridge residential project received approval and began construction in 2022, showing a precedent for phased residential infill.
Open questions: how the new residential towers will integrate with existing transit and services, and what policy tools (e.g., zoning incentives) were used to enable the mix.

For a developer

Site size: original GLA 441,651 sq ft, now 144,889 sq ft plaza.
Control: Crombie REIT holds title; Atlantic Shopping Centres Ltd was the original developer.
Entitlement stage: Opal Ridge residential towers and townhouses were completed late 2025, indicating advanced construction.
Constraints from flood, transit, or environmental layers are not stated in the record.
Market signals from tract data are not provided.

What we do not know yet

Exact flood‑plain status and any environmental restrictions are unknown.
Transit access and proximity to major routes are not detailed.
Financial terms of the Crombie REIT acquisition and any debt on the site are missing.
The timeline for full completion of Opal Ridge beyond the late‑2025 tower finish is unspecified.
Tract‑level market data (demographics, income, retail spending) is not included.

Generated by nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b on NVIDIA API via Hermes CT from the fields, parcels, deals and context layers on this page, with no outside knowledge. It is regenerated when the record changes and has not been checked by a person. How it is made.

Similar sites

Rhode Island Mall, Warwick, RI · Malls · similar GLA (579,499 sq ft); opened 1967; same strategy: redevelop
The Orchards Mall, Benton Charter Township, MI · Malls · similar GLA (530,000 sq ft); opened 1979; same strategy: redevelop
Niagara Square, shopping centre · Malls · similar GLA (390,000 sq ft); opened 1977; same strategy: redevelop
Prestonwood Mall, Dallas, TX · Malls · similar GLA (462,277 sq ft); opened 1979; same strategy: redevelop

Elsewhere on the web

Pages with photos

Gallery: Penhorn Mall > The demise of Penhorn > 12 - Urb… uer.ca
[Dartmouth] Penhorn Mall - Page 6 - SkyscraperPage Forum skyscraperpage.com
Penhorn Plaza - Stores Directory, Hours & Map | Dartmouth, Nova Scotia ... shopping-canada.com
Residential redevelopment proposed for former Penhorn Mall lands in ... halifaxexaminer.ca
Penhorn Mall Dartmouth - YouTube youtube.com
Penhorn Mall | Flickr flickr.com

Search images: Google · Bing · Commons · references: ULI case studies · Google Scholar

History and original facts

Opened	1974extracted, unreviewed
Gross leasable area	441,651 sq ftextracted, unreviewed documented It was the largest single-level enclosed shopping mall in Atlantic Canada at 441,651 sq. ft. of total retail floor area. en.wikipedia.org
Original developer	Atlantic Shopping Centres Ltdextracted, unreviewed documented Developed by Atlantic Shopping Centres Ltd, the predecessor to Crombie REIT. en.wikipedia.org
Anchors	Woolco, Sears, Sobeys Food Village
Notes	Wikipedia categories: Defunct shopping malls in Canada

Not yet recorded: acres. Know it? Tell us.

Background

Penhorn Mall was an enclosed shopping mall located in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada on Portland Street, one of the main arterials of the city. The centre currently operates as a 144,889 square foot shopping plaza, owned by Crombie REIT.

Excerpt from Wikipedia (authors and history), CC BY-SA 4.0. May be older than the record above.

Timeline

1974 Opened
1982 Major expansion with new wing, food court, and Sears anchor
1990 Renovations modernized concourse and expanded theatre to five screens
1994 Woolco closed, Walmart took over
2004 Theatre sold to Empire Theatres
2007 Walmart and theatre closures
2008 Announced transformation to exterior shopping plaza
2010 Sears wing demolished
2017 Sears closed
2022 Construction began on Opal Ridge residential development

Sources

Wikipedia: Penhorn Mall · supports: after notes, gla sqft, original developer, status, strategy, year opened
16 quoted sentences
Penhorn Mall originally opened on April 3, 1974.
It was the largest single-level enclosed shopping mall in Atlantic Canada at 441,651 sq. ft. of total retail floor area.
Developed by Atlantic Shopping Centres Ltd, the predecessor to Crombie REIT.
The centre currently operates as a 144,889 square foot shopping plaza.

Cite

Retrofit Atlas (2026). "Penhorn Mall, Dartmouth, Canada." Record m-7d7efd0582, imported, unreviewed. Built on the public Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed. https://retrofitatlas.org/malls/canada/dartmouth-penhorn-mall/ (accessed 2026-10-21).

BibTeX

@misc{retrofitatlas_dartmouthpenhornmall,
  title = {Penhorn Mall, Dartmouth, Canada},
  author = {{Retrofit Atlas}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://retrofitatlas.org/malls/canada/dartmouth-penhorn-mall/}},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Record m-7d7efd0582, release 2026-10-21, tier: draft. Built on the Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed on the record. Accessed 2026-10-21}
}

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