The announcement of several prestigious new tenants for St Martins Arcade is seen by many as a sign of positive things to come for Perth’s shopping malls.
Following the successful refurbishment of David Jones, St Martins has undertaken a $13 million refurbishment to retail and office premises.
Lease Equity director Jim Tsagalis, who secured several upmarket new tenants for the St Martins Arcade, said St Martins undertook to upgrade its retail space following the substantial additions to David Jones.
“St Martins is directly opposite David Jones and the upgrade was designed to take advantage of and complement David Jones,” Mr Tsagalis said.
“We have secured several upmarket tenants, including Mecca Cosmetics, women’s retailer OJAY, and Tony Barlow’s Platinum Menswear.
“Mecca is has one of the highest retail turnovers per square metre, and getting them on board was very exciting.”
Lincraft has more than doubled its retail space and has designed an iconic new entrance for its outlet in the refurbished mall.
The City of Perth is in the process of developing and implementing a $14 million Malls Action Plan, designed to upgrade the central city malls over a five-year period, and encourage the mall retail environment.
The upgrades cover Hay Street Mall, Murray Street Mall, Forrest Place and the Station Forecourt.
CB Richard Ellis manager of research, Andrew Woodley-Page, said CBD retail in Perth had been very strong in recent years, and that retail turnover growth in Western Australia exceeded the national average.
“The CBD retail market is extremely buoyant and the City of Perth seems determined to make the CBD the centre of retail,” Mr Woodley-Page told WA Business News.
“The CBD has several advantages, such as Sunday trading, the Convention Centre tourists, and new transport infrastructure, which will deliver additional foot traffic to the area.
“Bulky goods retail has been particularly strong also.”
