McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Vancouver

McArthurGlen Group, Europe’s largest owner and operator of designer outlet centers, opened its first and only North American property in July 2015 on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, near Vancouver International Airport, as a joint venture with the Vancouver Airport Authority, which itself shares outlet revenue with the Musqueam Indian Band under a separate agreement. Phase One opened at 240,000 sqft and roughly 65 percent leased; the design, by Edmonton-based Stantec, drew on Vancouver’s own architectural history, including the city’s 1937 post office building and the Gastown district’s brick facades, rather than a generic European template.

Phase Two broke ground in March 2018 and opened August 29, 2019 at 84,000 sqft, a deliberate scale-down from an originally planned 160,000 sqft expansion, bringing the total center to roughly 324,000 sqft and about 80 to 90 stores. Stuart Weitzman, Tory Burch and Jimmy Choo anchor the luxury outlet floor added in Phase Two, while Nike, Vans and Columbia Sportswear anchor the sportswear side that has been part of the property since Phase One.

The center is entirely outlet-format, a genuine differentiator from Tsawwassen Mills, a nearby competitor that mixes outlet and full-price tenants; the center’s management has described this all-outlet focus as deliberate rather than incidental to the original concept. A planned Phase Three, roughly 65,000 sqft and 30 to 35 additional stores, was under discussion as of 2023 without a confirmed construction start date.

Positioned at the Templeton Skytrain station and directly serving the airport-adjacent catchment, the property draws a combined base of Richmond, Delta and South Surrey area shoppers alongside airport traffic and cross-border visitors from the greater Seattle area, a catchment structure distinct from most Vancouver-area shopping centers built around a purely residential trade area. Templeton station sits within the Sea Island Free Travel Zone, meaning connecting passengers can ride the Canada Line between the airport terminals and the outlet at no fare cost, a transit perk that meaningfully lowers the friction for layover shoppers compared with most airport-adjacent retail.