Perth scores retail development record

shopping center, escalatorsMetropolitan Perth created more new shopping centre space in 2014 than any year for more than a decade, with a further $2.25 billion forecast to be invested over the next three years, a new report by Y Research has found.

According to the December 2014 Metropolitan Perth Shopping Centre Development Report, more than 100,000sqm of new shopping centre space was completed in 2014, this is the highest amount of new development in Perth since the GFC.

Eleven shopping centre development projects, worth around $647.8 million dollars, added 101,198sqm of new shopping space in the past 12 months.

This is the equivalent of adding one and a quarter major regional shopping centres such as Carousel or Garden City.

The largest new development, completed in 2014, was Lakeside Joondalup by Lend Lease. Upon completion of the 28,336sqm extension, Lakeside Joondalup is now the largest shopping centre in WA and the 21st largest in the country.

Metropolitan Perth shopping centres will continue to grow in coming years as a further $2.25 billion is invested in upgrading centres to the changing requirements of major retailers and consumers.

The report identified 37 new suburban shopping centre developments, and expansions of existing centres, which are either under construction or are actively going through the development approval process.

By the end of 2017, these developments have the potential to add 389,68sqm, or more than 20 per cent, to metropolitan Perth’s shopping centre supply.

Damian Stone, chief problem solver of Y Research,  said Perth is experiencing a wave of current and future shopping centre development, adding that from 2014, west Australian shopping centre owners are investing record amounts to modernise and future-proof their centres.

“The nearly $3 billion development pipeline demonstrates the impact of removing restrictions on the size of Perth’s major centres, extending trading hours, and continued migration to West Australia. The wave of redevelopment commencing with Lakeside Joondalup this year, and culminating with the planned expansion of Carousel, Galleria, and Garden City to Super Regional status in 2017, will change the definition of ‘a trip to the shops’ in metropolitan Perth,” Stone said.

More centres in the next five years will add new international retailers such as Zara and Williams-Sonoma, offer ‘new generation’ supermarkets, incorporate technology such as mobile charging stations or instore iPads, and move to 24 hour trade.

Under the previous policy, Western Australia’s major regional centres fell dramatically behind the rest of the country in terms of comparative size.

There has not been a major expansion of Perth’s largest four shopping centres since 2004 when Whitford City completed a redevelopment.

“Every state in Australia, except for WA, has a super regional centre more than 130,000sqm. As a result of this overdue investment, the largest amount of proposed development is in six major regional centres. Some 182,113sqm or 37 per cent of proposed development is in major regional centres – Lakeside Joondalup, Carousel, Galleria, Garden City, Midland Gatel, and Whitford City.

“The planned expansion of Carousel will add 47,109sqm taking the centre to 129,479sqm by 2017. Upon completion, Carousel will be the largest centre in Western Australia and among the 10 largest in Australia,” said Stone.

“Investment in shopping centre development is crucial for a commercial property sector facing limited future development of office and industrial property, and for the state economy as the resources industry cools down. The nearly $3 billion pipeline of shopping centres planned in West Australia between 2014 and 2017 will be a key driver of job creation, particularly in Perth’s urban fringe. The activity created in new shopping centre developments will assist more people to work and shop in the same location in the years ahead,” said Stone.

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