Complexe Les Ailes
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Location |
677, rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3B 5K4 |
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Opening date | 2002 |
Management | Ivanhoe Cambridge |
Owner | Ivanhoe Cambridge |
No. of stores and services | 60 |
Total retail floor area | 225,000 square feet (20,900 m2) |
No. of floors | 3 |
Website | www.complexelesailes.com |
Complexe Les Ailes is a shopping centre located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada at 677 Sainte-Catherine Street West, at the corner of University Street. The 11 floors multipurpose property houses an office component of 550,000 square feet (51,000 m2) known under the name 1500 University on the upper floors, as well as a retail gallery of 225,000 square feet (20,900 m2) with more than 60 stores on its three first floors.
Complexe Les Ailes is visited by over 11 million shoppers every year. It has direct access to Montreal’s “underground city” and the McGill metro station. Along with Place Montreal Trust and the Montreal Eaton Centre, Complexe Les Ailes constitute Ivanhoe Cambridge's self-branded Sh3pping trio of shopping malls.
A bronze statue of hockey player Maurice Richard and a three floors high tableau made by fine arts enamel painter Bernard Séguin Poirier are at Complexe Les Ailes.
The mall owner, Ivanhoe Cambridge, announced in March 2014 that it will merge the Complexe Les Ailes with the neighbouring Montreal Eaton Centre mall, and the newly merged complex will be renamed. The two malls will be renovated so that they will have the same "look and feel" once merged.
In late 2015, it was announced that Saks Off 5th would move into the complex in 2016.
The building was built in the early 1900s for the Goodwin's department store and originally only three stories tall. In 1925 it was sold to Eaton's, and the firm Ross and Macdonald was commissioned to build more floors. This property – known at the time as the Eaton's building – was home to Montreal’s largest department store for decades and was expanded three times during the years. First, in 1927 three floors were added, and then in 1930-1931 it was built up to nine stories. The top floor included Eaton's Ninth Floor Restaurant, an Art Deco design inspired by the dining room of the famous Île-de-France boat, was created following Jacques Carlu architect plans. Third, in 1958-1959, the building was expanded toward de Maisonneuve Boulevard. In 1967, a new development, in the form of an underground link to the city’s newly constructed subway line, via the McGill metro station, was introduced to the Eaton's building.