Preston Crossing

Preston Crossing is a big box shopping area (or "power centre") in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located at Preston Avenue North and Circle Drive.HistoryPreston Crossing's development coincided with the construction of an overpass over Circle Drive linking Attridge Drive to a realigned Preston Avenue North. 46acre of land, owned by the University of Saskatchewan, was marked for commercial development. The university paid for the initial water, sewer and roadway construction; in exchange, it leases the land to retail tenants and the revenue goes into its Land Endowment Fund. Preston Avenue bisects the property and is its major access road; a secondary access utilizing the original north/south Preston roadway alignment, allows access from eastbound Circle Drive.Calgary-based Rencor Developments formed a joint venture called Preston Crossing Properties Inc. with two Saskatchewan companies, Harvard Developments and TGS Properties. It completed all development, leasing and financing for the project; the architecture mirrored the gothic elements of the University campus buildings. In the fall of 2005, Harvard gained sole acquisition of the shopping center.Construction began in the spring of 2002 and the first stores opened in the fall of the same year. Development has continued in phases, although full build-out has not yet been reached. As of 2010, three building phases have been completed; a fourth phase was announced in June 2010. The shopping area had already lost one of its originating tenants, with the Shoppers Drug Mart location going out of business in 2012, after 10 years of operation.