Building a new shopping mecca in Melbourne’s north
The joint venture development of a new regional shopping centre in Melbourne’s rapidly expanding northern growth corridor has been announced between two of Melbourne’s leading developers and one of Australia’s largest institutional fund managers.
The centre will be developed by QIC, the group behind the $665 million transformation of Eastland, in partnership with MAB Corporation (MAB) and Gibson Property Corporation (GPC), the developers of Merrifield.
The 50% joint venture between MAB/GPC and QIC comprises a 30 hectare site within the Merrifield city centre, set to provide a cutting-edge retail experience and setting new benchmarks for commercial design in Melbourne’s north.
The site has been masterplanned with the capacity to deliver more than 200,000 square metres of retail floor space and act as the centrepiece for those living and working in Merrifield.
The centre will be built in a staged manner to support the growing residential population and local business community.
Managing Director of QIC Global Real Estate, Steven Leigh said the long-term development will comprise a best-in-class major town centre delivered in a number of stages to service Melbourne’s northern growth corridor.
“The initial stage of the development is planned to comprise a major supermarket and a range of specialty retailers,” Mr Leigh said.
“We are pleased to bring our expert knowledge in creating large-scale town centre destinations to this significant masterplanned community development.
“During the past 20-plus years we have acquired and developed a retail portfolio of 37 real estate assets globally.
“Our recently completed developments at Eastland in Melbourne’s east and The Kitchens at Robina Town Centre on the Gold Coast demonstrate our commitment to creating destinations that provide lifestyle, recreation, entertainment and dining experiences, in addition to an exceptional retail offer,” Mr Leigh said.
MAB Corporation Managing Director Andrew Buxton said the centre will cater to the needs of the growing population within Melbourne’s northern growth corridor, which is expected to increase from 405,000 people in 2015 to 658,000 by 2040*.
“MAB and GPC are very excited about this partnership as it signals another significant step in realising our live, work, play vision for Merrifield,” Mr. Buxton said. “This new precinct is planned to deliver not just an amazing retail offer – planned to be the best in Melbourne’s north – but also access to a range of dining and entertainment options.”
“Considering the rate of development already experienced at Merrifield, we anticipate that stage one of the centre could be trading as early as mid-2019,” added Mr. Buxton.
Look out for further updates in future editions of The Big Picture.