Robina Town Centre

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Robina Town Centre is a large shopping centre covering 34 hectares (86 acres) in the suburb of Robina, Queensland with over 220 retail outlets covering over 70,000 square metres (1,000,000 square feet).

1 History
2 Shopping and Surroundings
3 New Development
4 See also
5 External links & References

[edit] History

Construction began on the centre in 1994 and it was at the time the largest mall in Australia to be built in a single development period. Stage One of the development opened in late April 1996 and Stage Two, two extra levels of shopping, in late August 1996. The centre has since been taken over by QIC Real Estate from the original developers Jerde^[1] and development and refurbishment has occurred in 2002, 2003 and 2006. This development has cost $40 million and further development is planned. As well as development in 2006 there were a number of events to celebrate the 10th birthday of the centre. These included celebrity visits and children's events.

[edit] Shopping and Surroundings

Major stores include Coles, Woolworths, David Jones (the only one on the Gold Coast), Kmart, Target and Birch Caroll and Coyle 6 Cinemas. There are also a large number of food outlets nearby such as Pizza Hut and McDonalds and more 'classy' restaurants near the lake. Built around a central Town Square, which has a tower in the centre, the themed malls – Arbour Lane, Bazaar Street, Food Markets, Cresent West and High Street – give this shopping centre a unique feel. The tower, Campanile Tower, is 35 metres high and when the centre first opened there were races up it and abseiling down. This no longer occurs. To the west of the centre is an Anglican Missionary Church^[2]and the Robina Community Centre & Library. The Robina Station and Skilled Park Stadium are also nearby.

For busy parents there is a childminder service available for shoppers for a small price. The scheme runs Monday to Saturday. On Tuesday, Thursdays and Fridays there are walking exercise classes led by an expert. A free bus service runs between the Town Centre and other parts of the Gold Coast such as Surfers Paradise and Coolangatta.

In 1998 the centre received a Commendation from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects.^[3]

[edit] New Development

In 2007, Robina Town Centre announced that they were due to commence large scale development works in September 2007. In these works will be a 2nd Woolworths supermarket, a new large scale 10,000 m² Big W, a new entertainment and leisure precinct surrounding the lake including new cinemas and restaurants plus over 100 new stores. There will also be a new northern mall linking Arbour Lane, the Food Markets and Bazaar Street. All of the centre that is currently outdoors excluding the Town Square and areas around the lake will become indoors or at least partially indoors. During the development, David Jones will also be extensively redeveloped, and the area around the whole lake will become a restaurant and leisure precinct. The development will be complete in mid 2009.

Myer will open a store within the centre in 2010 in the location where Birch, Carroll and Coyle is presently located. The cinema complex will relocate to within the new development and will then handover the site to Myer who will re-fit out the the site to their standards.