Overview
Melbourne's northeast is on track to score a huge retail boom, now that a $500 million redevelopment of Westfield Doncaster shopping centre has been given the green light by the state government.
The project will include a hefty expansion of the existing site, with a gateway building towering at up to 14 storeys, an extra 43,000 square metres of retail offerings, and another 18,000 square metres of office space. A new two-level podium of premium retail stores is also part of the redevelopment plans, which come as the centre prepares to celebrate its 50th year of operation. Once complete, the shopping centre will boast improved car and pedestrian access, a stack of extra car parks and an expanded bus interchange set-up. Which is quite necessary as trains don't service the area.
Now that the project has been given the tick of approval by Minister for Planning Richard Wynne, following extensive community feedback, developers are set to lodge a planning permit for the first stage of works. According to Scentre Group Director of Development and Asset Management Stewart White, this part will be focused on boosting the existing specialty fashion, dining and entertainment, as well as creating a new health and wellness offering.
In the meantime, the food precinct currently next to Westfield Doncaster cinema will undergo an extensive upgrade, which will include the addition of new restaurants and a new landscaped al fresco area. The specific restaurants haven't been announced yet, but construction for this is set to kick off in the coming months.
Plans for the supercharged shopping precinct come off the back of January figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which showed Victorians had dropped a record $78.9 billion on retail sales over the previous year.
With the upgrade, Westfield Doncaster will be hoping to compete with newer, and bigger, shopping complexes around town. Chadstone recently welcomed a multimillion-dollar dining and retail centre, and its $130 million luxury hotel, MGallery by Sofitel, is slated to open there by the end of this year. And Burwood Brickworks — which, topped with an urban farm, is set to be Australia's 'most sustainable' shopping centre — will open sometime this year, too.
Westfield Doncaster will remain open as usual at 619 Doncaster Road, Doncaster for now. Work will only commence once a planning permit has been submitted and approved. We'll let you know where there are any updates.