Forest Hill Chase Shopping Centre
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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (July 2007) |
| Forest Hill Chase Shopping Centre | |
 Forest Hill Chase Shopping Centre Logo |
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| Facts and statistics | |
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| Location | Forest Hill, Victoria, Australia |
| Opening date | 1964 |
| Developer | Pacific Shopping Centres |
| Owner | Colonial First State Property Management |
| No. of stores and services | Approx 125 |
| Parking | 3200 |
| No. of floors | 3 |
| Website | www.foresthillchaseshopping.com.au |
Forest Hill Chase Shopping Centre (also known as Forest Hill Chase or simply Forest Hill), is a major shopping centre in Forest Hill, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia (About 18 km from the CBD) and is managed by Colonial First State Property Management. It is located on Canterbury Road between Blackburn and Springvale Roads.
The architecture is distinguished by a roof of polycarbonate construction with a barrel vault design.
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[edit] Main Shops
The shopping centre has two supermarkets, two "discount" department stores and one traditional department store spread across three floors/levels. Its major tenants/anchor stores include:
- Myer
Myer has planed to add 2 more levels onto the Forest Hill Chase store and promises to leave it bigger and better than ever.
- Target
- Dimmeys
- Safeway
- Big W
- Hoyts
- AMF Bowling ten-pin bowling
- Coles
- Ambers Playhouse
- The Chase Hotel
As well as around 150 specialty stores.
Forest Hill Chase is now one of the most known stores in Victoria[citation needed] and has recently been refurbished. January 2007 saw the closure of K-Mart at Forest Hill, and a new Target. A new foodcourt has been finished, with McDonalds joining the restaurant line-up.
The Centre is surrounded by other large shopping centres such as:
- Westfield Doncaster (currently under re-construction)
- Knox Shopping Centre
- Centro the Glen
- Chadstone Shopping Centre
- Eastland Shopping Centre
All these shopping centres contain a multi level department store (Myer or David Jones).
[edit] Recent History
In December 2004, Melbourne businessman Maurice Alter sold the Forest Hill Chase shopping centre to listed retail property trust CFS Gandel, managed by Colonial First State Property, for $214.5 million.
The sale was close to being the largest national (Australian) retail property deal of the year and which included property management rights and the potential for redevelopment.
At the time of purchase, Colonial First State Property fund manager Bevan Towning ruled out any immediate major redevelopment plans, saying the intention was to change the centre's retailing mix by introducing the same national brands it had at its other shopping centres, Chadstone and Northland. They also wanted to revitalize the centre and give it a "New look."
The 56,886 square metre Forest Hill Chase was the first shopping centre built in Victoria by Mr Alter's group, Pacific Shopping Centres, with George Herscu, in 1964.
[edit] Revitilisation
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This article or section contains information about expected future buildings or structures. Some or all of this information may be speculative, and the content may change as building construction begins. |
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Major construction works started around December, 2006 on the centre's revamp.
- Major Projects undertaken
- Relocation of Kmart Tyre and Auto Service, to new free standing site in Pacific Way. (Completed March 2007)
- Internal mall refurbishment - new floor tiling, new modern balustrades, and the removal of second stairwell
- Refurbishment of Level 2 toilets (Completed June 2007)
- Upgrade of the Mahoney's Road entrance - old canopy removed to be replaced by new entrance feature, also a new balcony being constucted for the Chase Hotel. (Completed June 2007)
- Kmart closure and refurbisment as a new (Target) (Completed September 2007)
- The new foodcourt's new outlook (Completed September 2007)
Retailer changes:
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New Retailers:
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Retailers Relocating within Centre:
Retailers Leaving:
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[edit] Trading Hours
Most shops in Forest Hill operate from 9 or 10am and finish usually at 5 or 5:30pm depending on the day and on a Thursday or Friday, operates till 9pm. The supermarkets however are open from early morning till midnight. Other general retailers go with the normal trading hours as after some time, security gates at the shopping centre close down.
[edit] Parking & Transport
The shopping centre has good parking with 2 car parks - 1 being a five story undercover carpark covered ground level and rooftop parking.
Forest Hill Chase is also well catered by public transport. The bus routes 703, 736, 765, 888/889 all run through Forest Hill Chase. The centre is serviced from approximately 6am-10pm weekdays, 7am-8:30pm on Saturdays and 8am-9pm on Sundays and Public Holidays.
The 888/889 run through Forest Hill to either Chelsea or Nunawading every 15 minutes from 6am-9:30pm on weekdays and every 40 minutes on weekends. The last few services at night skip the centre.
Route 736 runs to either Blackburn or Mitcham stations every 30-40 minutes from 6:40am-7:30pm on weekdays only.
Route 765 runs to either Box Hill or Mitcham from 6am-7pm every 20-45 minutes on weekdays and every 30-45 mins on Saturdays. Last buses are around 6:30pm.
Route 703 runs to either Blackburn or Middle Brighton operates every 15 minutes between 9am-3pm and every 30-60 minutes 6pm-9:40pm on weekdays, every 30 minutes on Saturdays and every 45 minutes on Sundays. 703 to skips Forest Hill Chase during weekday peak times (6am-9am and 3pm-6pm) due to time constraints and late at night.
Forest Hill Chase can also be accessed by train at Blackburn or Nunawading railway stations on the Belgrave and Lilydale lines. From there, people can catch one of the above mentioned buses from the station to the shopping centre or walk.
