South Keys Shopping Centre is an unenclosed strip mall in Ottawa South in the South Keys neighbourhood. It is owned by the Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust (CREIT) and is leased to a number of national and local retail stores in financial services, grocery, fast food and sit down restaurants, clothing, books, entertainment, and office supplies.
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History
South Keys Shopping Centre was first opened in 1996. It has recently added tenants such as the Royal Bank and CIBC, and completed a major renovation of Walmart in 2010.
Physical location
South Keys Shopping Centre is located within the federal and provincial districts of Ottawa South. The shopping centre is bound by Johnston Road to the north, Bank Street to the east, Daze Street to the south, and the OC Transpo Transitway to the west.
The shopping centre is built on 56 acres of land with 522,232 square feet of store space. It includes 2,982 parking spaces and 26 store locations, of which 25 are occupied as of November 2013. The largest store is Walmart at 160,216 square feet.
Neighbourhood
The South Keys neighbourhood comprises the area immediately surrounding the shopping centre, generally bound by Johnston Road to the north, Albion Road to the east, the Airport Parkway to the west, and Hunt Club Road to the south.
CREIT notes that there are 3,270 households comprising 8,513 people within a one-kilometre radius of the shopping centre. The average household income within this radius is $77,418. Expanding the radius to five kilometres captures 130,934 people living in 50,084 households with an average income of $85,092.
Transportation connections
There are several entrances for vehicles along Bank Street or Daze Street.
The OC Transpo Transitway runs north-south along the back of the shopping centre. The Transitway’s South Keys Station can be accessed between the Walmart and Children’s Place. The major routes running downtown from the station are the 97 and 98. After South Keys, most bus routes either continue to the airport or turn west and travel along Hunt Club Road.
The OC Transpo Greenboro park-and-ride station is at the north end of the mall past the Mucho Burrito. The station includes both an O-Train stop and bus service.
Bus route 1 travels north-south along Bank Street and, during peak hours, stops at the South Keys Station.
Crime issues
The shopping centre has been the location of several minor and major crimes.
Around 4:30am on December 18, 2011, someone shot at the front window of the Walmart. No one was injured and the police investigation did not lead to any arrests.
On July 28, 2013 around 9:00am the body of a deceased female was found in the ditch between the Kelsey's parking lot and Bank Street. The following day she was confirmed as Melissa Richmond, who had been missing for the previous two weeks. It was Ottawa's seventh homicide of the year. On August 2, 2013 her husband, Howard Richmond, was charged with first degree murder.
On Monday, November 25, 2013 around 6:30pm, an elderly woman disembarking a bus and walking towards the Walmart was grabbed and had her personal belongings stolen. The police say it was just one of several robberies in the South Keys neighbourhood.
On Tuesday, January 7, 2014 around 9:00pm, Walmart employees received a bomb threat via telephone. All customers and employees were evacuated while the Ottawa Police cleared the area.