Vancouverites Priced Out of Oakridge Park

Oakridge Park is bright an airy, but also very expensive

Oakridge Park has partially opened in Vancouver, and after years of watching it being built, many residents were curious to see how the old shopping mall was replaced.

Gone was the large street level parking lot and in its place is a huge upscale mall, parking in the basement, and luxury condos in the towers above. The prices for these units were apparently so expensive that only the uber rich could afford them, and even then there were stories going around that there was valet parking which deterred some prospective buyers.

Lots of luxury brands and a champagne bar

In a bid to showcase Oakridge Park and get some customers in, a section of the mall featuring Time Out Market, the gourmet food hall was opened first in late May.

There was a lot of hype about Time Out Market, and in the first few days there were mobs of people trying to get to this area on the second floor; one report was that it was an hour wait just to get in, and almost as long to get food.

People were enticed to come thanks to a huge social media push that invited influencers to film themselves trying the food. For example, there's Iron Chef winner and celebrity chef Rob Feenie come and offer his Feenie burgers, Lunch Lady has a condensed version of its pho offerings, Top Chef Canada winner Chanthy Yen presenting Mee, a Cambodian menu of rice or noodle bowls, and Beaucoup Bakery and Mello with their pastries and doughnuts respectively.

Nevertheless, the food court is popular because there's a giant screen showing the World Cup games, like when we went the other day.

Cambodian noodles from Mee Bar

I ordered a bowl of noodles from Mee Bar, with slices of braised pork, rice noodles, two prawns, half a soft-boiled egg and bean sprouts with a slightly sour and spicy sauce for $26. Sadly it did not fill me up, and I wasn't about to buy something else in the food hall.

Security also seems overly hyper vigilant. We walked in with a cup of water and a security guard told us no outside drinks allowed. We explained it was just water and at first she refused to let us bring it into the food hall and suggested we use the water dispenser which made no sense -- we already had water! She finally let us go. It was a bit much.

As one can surmise, most of the food offerings are Asian, to target a certain crowd, as evidenced by the retail stores.

The shopping mall itself looks like one that could be found in China or Hong Kong, though Oakridge Park seems to be even grander with the stores all spread out thanks to the wide berth between them.

And yes all the shops are on the high end: Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Tiffany & Co., Alexander Wang, Chow Tai Fook, Rolex, Prada and Dior to name a few.

The mix of stores is very high end and empty

Meanwhile the only cheapest option is Sephora to buy lipstick or a Korean beauty mask until supermarket Safeway opens. There are no toy stores or bookstores, or a range of stores offering various price points.

Some people who have visited Oakridge Park describe it as soulless, similar to an airport mall, full of greed and excess, and makes them feel poor. 

I have to agree... Oakridge Park was planned when there seemed to be a never-ending tap of Chinese money flowing to Vancouver, but the spigot has been turned off and now there are too many condos and not enough buyers to afford them.

Unfortunately we're left with what could soon become a white elephant...