Quebec-based SAJO Construction Inc. received a construction permit from the City of Ottawa in May to fit up a store on the first floor of the three-storey shopping mall. Bayshore is about to undergo major renovations and expansion, as reported by OBJ in April and officially announced last month.
City documents state that the Apple store will be 6,781 square feet and that it will take $1 million to get the space ready for the new tenant.
The permit was granted on May 7, but a formal announcement has yet to be made by Apple or Bayshore.
At a launch party for the $200-million expansion project hosted by Bayshore last month, general manager Denis Pelletier said that the mall was waiting for tenants to make their own announcements about their new Bayshore location.
"Our position hasn't changed," Mr. Pelletier said Thursday when asked about the Apple store. "There's a lot of information out there, some of it is pretty definite, however we're still committed to allowing our retailers to announce their opening."
Tara Hendela, Apple's manager of public relations in Canada, said the company has not made any announcements about the location, and declined to comment on specific criteria Apple looks for when choosing new locations.
Apple's Rideau Centre location opened in 2009, and speculation that Ottawa was due for a second store in Bayshore lasted for months.
Barry Nabatian, director of the market research division at Shore Tanner & Associates, said in a previous OBJ interview that he had heard rumours of an Apple store coming to the west-end mall. He also speculated that H&M and British men's clothing brand Topman would do well in Bayshore.
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