Prominent London property owner Shmuel Farhi is purchasing Westmount Commons, formerly known as Westmount Mall, with a plan to build low-rise apartments on the expansive property on Wonderland Road South. “But this is unique because this is going to be live, work, and play,” said Farhi, as he provided a tour of the site, and explained his plans for mixed use development on the property. Farhi said he is acquiring the commercial property through his development company at a cost of just under $40 million from current owner KingSett Capital and partner McCor Management. He said the city had previously approved a 1,000-unit residential tower over the former Sears store, but that project will not go ahead at this time. Rather, he plans to build a low-rise apartment building on the property surrounding the mall. “We are going to build standalone building, but I like to start from the outskirts and build to the centre,” Farhi explained Farhi said the site could potentially have multiple apartment buildings. In the meantime, Ward 10 City Coun. Paul Van Meerbergen said he’s pleased to see the four-decades old shopping mall taken over by a local property owner. “Westmount is in for a real renaissance. I think that’s what we’re looking at. Because it would be a real shame to see this property just drift into a boarded-up, abandoned state. This still has a lot of life and energy to give back to the community,” said Van Meerbergen. Farhi’s plan continues with a trend of mixed-use developments, including retail, office, medical, and now residential. “The enhancement we’re going to do to build the low-rise, it will help every tenant here, whether it’s Tim Horton, whether it’s Bulk Barn, whether it’s the little zoo that we have here, it will help to bring the community together,” said Farhi. He said he expects the sale to close as early as next week.
