Westfield Warringah Mall Explained

Caption:Entrance to Westfield Warringah Mall from Condamine Street
Floor Area:1315890NaN0
Floors:3
Westfield Warringah Mall
Location:Brookvale, New South Wales, Australia
Manager:Scentre Group
Number Of Anchors:8
Number Of Stores:381
Address:Condamine Street
Owner:Scentre Group
Parking:4,650 spaces
Publictransit: Warringah Mall
Coordinates:-33.7677°N 151.266°W

Westfield Warringah Mall, previously known as Warringah Mall, is a large indoor/outdoor shopping centre in the suburb of Brookvale in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney.[1]

History

Warringah Mall opened on 4 April 1963 and was developed by Hammerson Group and was the second largest shopping centre at the time with Chadstone Shopping Centre being the largest.[2] The centre was partially built on the site of 'Brookvale House', which was built by Sydney Alexander Malcolm in 1883 and was sold in 1961 to the Hooker Investment Corporation. Warringah Mall contained around 50 stores, including David Jones, Nock & Kirby, Franklins and Woolworths.[3] [4] Ten years later, the centre saw the opening of a new Grace Bros store which was upgraded from a homemakers store in 1973. The same year, a fire broke out in the original Woolworths store, killing two female workers. Fifty more speciality stores have also opened, followed by the opening of the Hoyts Twin Cinema Complex in the early 1980s.

Warringah Mall was featured in the movie BMX Bandits with two young BMX experts, P.J. (Angelo D'Angelo) and Goose (James Lugton), who meet Judy (Nicole Kidman), who was working as a trolley collector. In the mid-1980s, a Target store was opened along with 20 specialty stores. To commemorate the Australian Bicentenary, Warringah Shire Council commissioned local sculptor Victor Cusack[5] to create a central fountain for the mall. Entitled "Pacific Family", it was unveiled by Deputy Shire President Julie Sutton on 23 November 1988.

Warringah Mall was included in the sale of Hammerson's Australian property portfolio to AMP Capital in 1994.[6] [7] In 1998, Warringah Mall underwent stage 2 of redevelopment and was officially opened in December 1999. The development included a new food court and entertainment precincts with the opening of Hoyts and Galaxy World, it also included the opening of new stores next to the food court including Rebel Sport, Surf Dive ‘n' Ski and Warringah Mall Library which opened near Hoyts. The old areas also had a makeover which was to introduce a quality homewares precinct with retailers such as Wheel & Barrow and Dick Smith Powerhouse in 2000.[8] Franklins closed in 2001 and was by replaced by Priceline Pharmacy. The same year German global discount supermarket Aldi opened outside the centre on the corner of Cross and Green Street. Aldi previously had plans to open inside the centre but was rejected by AMP Capital due to disputes between rival supermarkets Coles and Woolworths.

In March 2003 Westfield Group purchased a 25 per cent shareholding, this was increased to 50 per cent in October 2012. AMP Capital and the Westfield Group swapped interests in seven centres, including Warringah Mall which became a 50/50 joint venture between the two companies. As part of the deal, centre management transferred from AMP to Westfield with the centre rebranded Westfield Warringah Mall.[9] In July 2014, as part of a, restructure of the Westfield Group, it came under the control of the Scentre Group.[10]

In January 2015, in preparation for the $310 million redevelopment up to ten stores were closed and relocated.[11] Two carparks were closed and demolished in February 2015 and hoardings were erected around the centre court area.[12] Around that time Myer began its refurbishment, shrinking from three levels to two.[13] The store continued to trade during the refurbishment until February 2016 when it temporarily closed to allow for works to continue.[14]

The $310 million redevelopment began in August 2015 with stage one of the redevelopment completed by June 2016. Westfield Warringah Mall unveiled its 1200 spaces five-level car park and a new fresh food court which was opened by My Kitchen Rules 2015 winners Will and Steve on 30th June 2016.[15] [16]

Stage two of the redevelopment was completed by November 2016 with the grand opening on 17th November 2016. [17] The two-level Myer was officially opened by Australian model Jennifer Hawkins.[18]

This stage two development features two new mini majors a two-level H&M, Cotton On Mega and an Anaconda store, a new two-level parallel mall linking Myer and the existing centre (built over an existing carpark) and a new refurbished centre court with a new look "Pacific Family" fountain and a water feature and a surfboard-inspired sculpture known as "Whitewash" (made from 43 chrome surfboards) by Laura Enever outside Myer.[19] 70 new stores (including 50 fashion stores including H&M and Sephora) were added to the centre.[20] [21]

2019 redevelopment proposal

Plans for the $226 million redevelopment will include a new relocated Hoyts Cinema on level 3, addition of 35 food outlets including licensed premises together, 15 speciality retailers, 10 small outlets and one major store. They will be located on the three levels as part of the additional 10,000sqm of extra retail space. The existing food court on level 1 will be expanded to the south with addition of six food court outlets. The restaurant precinct on level two will feature views overlooking Brookvale Creek and the Warringah golf course. The redevelopment will add modifications to existing specialty stores and the existing Kmart store on the ground level are also planned. The number of parking spaces will increase to a total of 5,093.[22] [23] This development follows the 2008 master plan of the centre. A 14-month timeline has been estimated for completion of the project. The plans for the centre had been decided in May.[24]

Tenants

Westfield Warringah Mall has 131,589m² of floor space. The major retailers include David Jones, Myer, Big W, Kmart, Coles, Woolworths, Bunnings, Cotton On, H&M, TK Maxx, JB Hi-Fi, Rebel, Anaconda and Hoyts Cinema

Transport

Westfield Warringah Mall has bus connections to the Sydney CBD, Lower North Shore and the Northern Beaches, as well as local surrounding suburbs operated by Keolis Downer Northern Beaches. There is also a regular service to the nearby Frenchs Forest and Belrose regions operated by CDC NSW. The majority of the bus services are located on Pittwater Road and the bus interchange inside the centre.

Westfield Warringah Mall also has multi-level car parks with 4,650 spaces.

Incidents and accidents

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Westfield Warringah Mall. Scentre Group. 22 September 2017.
  2. Web site: THE SHOPPING MALL MUSEUM. 18 September 2017.
  3. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19820622&id=sDtkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=G-cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5597,7551295&hl=en Hammerson proposes Aust listing
  4. News: Warringah Mall. 4 July 2016. The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 March 1963. 7.
  5. Web site: Victor Cusack - Art. victorcusack.com.au.
  6. Web site: Stevenson . Tom . Australian sale brings pounds 251m for Hammerson . The Independent . 1994-10-16 . 2023-01-20.
  7. http://www.ampcapital.com.au/AMPCapitalAU/media/contents/Documents/Property/real-estate-capabilities.pdf 50 years of real estate experience
  8. Web site: McGrath Retail Innovations. mcgrathretail.com. 2018-09-14.
  9. http://www.scentregroup.com/news/2012/10/25/wdc/asx_announcements/2702239.pdf Westfield Group, Westfield Retail Trust and AMP Capital Restructure Ownership Interests in Portfolio of Seven Australian Centres
  10. Web site: 2014-12-26. How the wild, wild Westfield restructure deal was eventually won. 2020-10-19. Australian Financial Review. en.
  11. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/northern-beaches/shops-close-move-including-medibank-private-ahead-of-westfield-warringah-mall-makeover/news-story/ecf18591ef79a62978c97dc8897a9f72 Shops close, move including Medibank Private ahead of Westfield Warringah Mall makeover
  12. Web site: Deare . Steven . December 5, 2014 . Shops to shut as Warringah Mall and Myer makeover begins . The Daily Telegraph.
  13. Web site: Deare . Steven . January 30, 2015 . Huge reductions coming to Myer store at Westfield Warringah Mall . The Daily Telegraph.
  14. Web site: 2015-12-09 . Myer's major refurbishment plan . 2024-09-12 . Inside Retail. en-US.
  15. News: Food court dishes up a new menu. Dailytelegraph .
  16. Web site: 2016-07-01 . Westfield Warringah Mall redevelopment unveiled . 2024-09-12 . Inside Retail. en-US.
  17. Web site: November 17, 2016 . Westfield Warringah Mall opens today . www.scentregroup.com.
  18. News: Jen stars at Myer store opening. Daily Telegraph. 17 November 2016. 20 November 2016. Swain. Sarah.
  19. Web site: Whitewash . 2024-09-12 . Event Engineering . en-US.
  20. Web site: Swain . Sarah . November 15, 2016 . Jennifer Hawkins offers peek inside new Myer store as new Warringah Mall reopens this week — with all the details revealed . The Daily Telegraph.
  21. Web site: 2016-11-14 . Scentre opens more new shopping at Warringah and North Lakes . 2024-09-12 . Australian Financial Review . en.
  22. Web site: Warringah Mall $226 million upgrade to bring new cinema, parking, restaurants. Daily Telegraph. 2019-09-20.
  23. Web site: Plans to expand Warringah Mall. 2018-10-22. Minuteman Press Print Services. 2019-09-20.
  24. Web site: Fresh details and images revealed as decision is due on Warringah Mall's $226m redevelopment plan. Daily Telegraph. 2019-09-20.
  25. News: Two in court on Mall murder charges. 1969-09-09. Canberra Times. 2019-09-21. 8.
  26. Web site: Fatal stabbing at Sydney bus shelter. Kwek. Glenda. 2012-05-02. Sydney Morning Herald. en. 2019-09-21.
  27. News: Mental illness in murder verdict. 2015-07-31. Daily Telegraph. en. 2019-09-21. Marks. Alison.
  28. News: Man high on ice tries to set fire to guard. 1 September 2017.
  29. News: Evacuation at Warringah Mall after threat. 1 September 2017.
  30. Web site: Woman slashed with knife trying to break up fight between teenage girls. au.news.yahoo.com. 8 January 2019 . en-AU. 2019-09-21.
  31. Web site: Girl, 13, accused of stabbing Sydney nail salon worker. Sky News Australia. 8 January 2019. 2019-09-21.
  32. Web site: Worker injured in Mall fall . 22 April 2024 .
  33. Web site: Worker injured in fall at Sydney shopping centre . 22 April 2024 .