Chadstone Shopping Centre

Chadstone Shopping Centre

Chadstone Logo
Location	Chadstone, Victoria, Australia
Coordinates	37°53′9″S 145°4′57″E
Opening date	October 1960
Developer	Colonial First State Property Management
Management	Colonial First State Property Management
Owner	CFS Retail Property Trust (50%); Gandel Group (50%)
No. of stores and services	457
No. of anchor tenants	7
Total retail floor area	137,076 m² (lettable)
No. of floors	2 (ground and lower)
Parking	9,150
Website	chadstoneshopping.com.au

Chadstone Shopping Centre (also known as Chaddy to local residents) is a super-regional shopping centre located in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.

History

An aerial photograph of the area in which Chadstone Shopping Centre now stands, in 1945, with the current centre perimeter shown in red.

The site of the current shopping centre was once extensive paddocks of the Convent of the Good Shepherd on which cattle grazed until the mid 1950s.

Opened in October 1960, Chadstone Shopping Centre was the first self-contained regional shopping centre in Melbourne, and the largest ever built in Australia. The centre was built and owned by the Myer Emporium. The original shopping centre consisted of a single mall-way with Myer at the southern end and a Coles New World supermarket at the northern end. This end was subsequently redeveloped as a Target department store with Hoyts Cinemas downstairs.

In the early 1980s, the Myer Emporium sold the shopping centre to the Gandel Group, which has since managed and developed the complex. A major extension doubled the lettable area in the late 1980s. The Convent of the Good Shepherd was finally demolished to extend the carpark of the complex in this era.

Throughout the 1990s, the complex has undergone numerous developments. These include the development of multi-storey carparks due to the boundaries of the centre being built-up with no further room to expand. Approximately 20% of the original mall structure is left intact.

It remained Australia's largest shopping mall until November 2003, when Chadstone's biggest rival, the Knox City Shopping Centre, underwent large scale redevelopments to achieve a lettable area of 142,244 m², breaking Chadstone's record of 126,980 m² at the time. Another Melbourne shopping centre that rivals Chadstone in lettable area is Westfield Fountain Gate, which was expanded in 2001 to 138,163 m².

Redevelopment

Exterior view of David Jones from the North-West side.

Chadstone is currently (as of December 23, 2007) undertaking a AUD$100 million upgrade of its own, with the Gandel Group extending Chadstone's lettable area to 190,000 m², which will once again make Chadstone the largest shopping centre. The new extension, dubbed 'Chadstone Place', will feature a Safeway Supermarket, First Choice Liquor, Aldi and a Dick Smith's Warehouse along with an airport-style waiting area bus interchange, a health club and a crèche. On the 29th of October 2007 the first section of the redevelopment was open. Named "The Loop Mall" it features 44 new stores including a redesigned Jetty Surf and new entrances opposite Kmart and Toys 'R' Us. The current redevelopment has seen almost one quarter of the centre closed, (the oldest section of the centre, from Sportsgirl to Mrs. Field's/Borders, is shut), from 31 May, 2008, until late 2009.

The development also includes redesigning the roads leading into Chadstone to allow for better traffic flow into the centre. Construction commenced early 2007. Construction projects include:

• Widening and lowering of Middle Road (to accommodate growing traffic originating from Monash Fwy, and to clear Webster Street)
• Webster Street bridge (to enhance privacy and thoroughfare for Webster St residents, eliminating the need to cross Middle Rd)
• Widening of Warrigal Road and additional turning lanes into Middle Road
• Construction of additional multi-level carpark (on the original ACU Christ Campus site)
• Extension of the Chadstone Rd/Dandenong Road multilevel carpark

When extended, the centre will reach 190,000sqm making it the largest shopping centre in Australia. Chadstone is set to be the location of the first Victorian Apple Store.

Revenue and Profit

Chadstone Shopping Centre was the first shopping centre in Australia to have its total worth valued at over A$1 billion. Chadstone Shopping Centre's net income was $970 million in 2004. Its annual profit in (2004) was A$79.03 million , with its entirety of stores gaining an income of A$119.23 million. In 2004, Chadstone Shopping Centre had an Annual Traffic Movement of 16.7 million moving through the centre.

In 2007, the annual turnover was A$1 billion, making it the shopping centre in Australia with the highest annual turnover and the first to have an annual turnover of A$1 billion. The second highest annual turnover was A$900.9 million at Sydney's Westfield Bondi Junction.

Transport

The 'Chadstone Corner' entrance, one of the main entrances flanked by bus stops.

Although the centre was created in the era of the motor vehicle, this fact is now severely limiting the growth of the complex. It is surrounded by over 8,500 car parking spaces on three parking levels, and yet it is still notoriously difficult to park there at times. The current upgrade will increase the number of parking spaces even further.

There are concerns from the City of Stonnington and City of Monash Councils and local residents about the motor vehicle congestion around it as well as competition from local street shopping strips. The nearest trains are at Hughesdale station on the Cranbourne/Pakenham lines, which is roughly a 20 minute walk. Also on the Cranbourne/Pakenham line is Oakleigh station, with buses direct to Chadstone. On the Glen Waverley line is Holmesglen station, which is over a kilometre away down the busy Warrigal Road. There are also many bus routes that use the shopping centre as an interchange.

Tennants

Interior view on the ground level looking west towards Myer.

Major tenants include Myer, David Jones, Kmart, Target, Coles, an AMF Bowling Centre, and a Hoyts Cinema Complex featuring 16 theatres (of which 7 are Cinemaxx with stadium seating and 5 include the higher-priced La Premiere seating). The many clothing stores range from globally renowned names like Armani, Ralph Lauren, and Speedo, right down to lesser known labels like Saba.

Major stores include:

• Myer
• David Jones
• Kmart
• Target
• Coles
• JB Hi-Fi
• Hoyts
• AMF Bowling Centre
• Borders Books
• Safeway opening November 2008
• Aldi opening November 2008
• Dick Smith Electronics

See also

• Chadstone, Victoria
• Shopping Centre
• List of shopping malls in the Southern Hemisphere

External links

• November 2002 newspaper article on Chadstone vs. Knox City
• http://www.cimdata.com/newsletter/2006/38/04/38.04.02.htm
• Chadstone Development Discussions - Middle Road Redevelopment: Unofficial News & Photos