A large-scale, indoor Asian mall to be built on the former site of Cullen Country Barns was formally proposed in 1993 by Torgan Group, an Israeli-Canadian development company, with the Fairchild Group as a partner. The mall would operate as a condominium corporation, where shop units are owned by individuals who determine the store's inventory and business hours, and can sell the unit at will. The developers of Pacific Mall claimed they were the first mall in North America to use this business model, though Pacific Mall was preceded by the condominium mall Chinatown Centre in West Chinatown, Toronto, which opened in 1989.