THE total value of major shopping centre upgrades either under way or announced in Perth this year has reached nearly $1 billion.
The most recent addition to the development list was AMP Capital’s Ocean Keys shopping centre at Clarkson, where a $105 million upgrade will start next month.
The Ocean Keys decision, announced last week, came less than a fortnight after Lend Lease announced the start of work on a $300 million expansion of its part-owned Lakeside Joondalup centre.
Lakeside Joondalup will increase in size to 96,000 square metres of gross lettable area and, as a result, will take Westfield Carousel’s crown as the largest shopping centre in Perth.
However, its hold on that title may be shortlived, with AMP Capital proposing to spend up to $400 million on an upgrade and expansion of Garden City Booragoon, which will increase in size potentially to 120,000sqm.
Other centre developments getting under way in Perth include an expansion of Perron Group’s Cockbum Gateway.
The pipeline of future projects next year could be boosted by developments at Westfield’s Whitford City and at Karrinyup shopping centre.
Westfield has developed a structure plan for Whitford, which is categorised as a secondary activity centre under the state government’s Directions 2031 planning framework.
Pending approval of the structure plan by the City of Joondalup, Westfield is expected to submit a development application next year.
An expansion at Karrinyup has been in the offing since 2010, when major tenant David Jones announced plans for a 4,500sqm expansion of its store.
However, progress has been stalled by an unresolved ownership dispute, with Westfield wanting to move to full ownership of the centre and oust AMP as centre manager.
AMP Capital announced last week that Built Environs had been selected as builder for the Ocean Keys project, following a design and tender process.
The development includes a new mall with 48 specialty stores, a full-line Target store, a new dining precinct and an additional multideck car park.
The design of the centre will be integrated with the surrounding town centre and will include commercial offices, a ‘main street’ cafe court and 10 new residential apartments.
It will open in two stages in 2014.
The Lakeside Joondalup expansion will include a new two-level, 12,000sqm Myer department store, a new dining precinct, about 95 national and local retailers and 5,000 car spaces.
Lend Lease’s project management and construction business will design and construct the project.
The contract value for the design and construction of redevelopment is about $208 million.
Construction is expected to take two years, with completion before Christmas 2014.
AMP Capital has agreed to appoint Westfield to the design and construct role for the Garden City upgrade, which will include a new full-line David Jones store, a new Woolworths supermarket and a fresh food precinct, along with allowance for an additional discount department store and outdoor dining precinct.
It has been non-committal about the scale and timing of the project.
“The development could double the size of the centre to 120,000sqm of gross lettable area over a number of stages,” AMP Capital said in a statement.
The spate of new projects follows a relatively quiet period in the sector, with the largest suburban project to be completed this year being the $45 million redevelopment of Kwinana Hub. Yanchep Central and Haynes shopping centre in Armadale were other notable developments this year.
