EDMONTON, CANADA-The Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCo), which manages the investments of the government of Alberta and public sector pension plans, wants to revive new development plans for a nearly-vacant retail mall in the downtown. The property is on 102^nd Street, north of Jasper Avenue, and is known as Manulife Place Phase 2.

There is a two-story mall on the property, and Manulife reportedly was supposed to build a hotel and an office tower on the site. Instead, the stores at the 128,000-square-foot property closed one after another, reportedly empty by 1994, and a health laboratory is now the only tenant.

AIMCo purchased the property, which includes an underground parking garage and connections to the downtown pedway system, from Manulife less than three years ago. Now, the firm recently hired Hines to examine potential uses for the site, including the office tower. Hines, in turn, has retained New Haven, CT-based Pickard Chilton Architects and locally-based HIP Architects to examine office alternatives for the site.

“We’re exploring what we could do,” says Leo de Bever, CEO of AIMCo. “We’ve had people over the years express interest, and at one time the local university wanted to do something there, but it never materialized. The economy is picking up a bit. If something was going to hit the market in the next three or four years, this is now the time to get it going.”

He tells GlobeSt.com that the area has some office draw, as next door is the 36-floor Manulife Place office and retail tower, the largest building in the city. AIMCo also has an interest in this tower.