Cairns Central from outside the main entrance on Shields Street. |
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| Location | Cairns, Queensland Australia |
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| Opening date | 1997 |
| Developer | Suncorp Coles-Myers |
| Management | Lend Lease |
| Owner | Australian Prime Property Fund, The Westfield Group |
| No. of stores and services | 180 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 6 Myer, Target, Birch Carroll & Coyle, Coles, Bi-lo, JB Hi Fi |
| Total retail floor area | 53,500 m² [1] |
| Parking | 2,700 |
| No. of floors | 2 (Trading area) |
| Website | www.cairnscentral.com.au |
Cairns Central Shopping Centre in north Queensland, Australia and is Cairns' biggest shopping centre. The centre was opened in late 1997 and is the second multi-story shopping centre in northern Queensland. The shopping centre is built over the Cairns Railway Station, which is incorporated with the centre. Pedestrian access to the station is through the car park on the bottom floor, or a pedestrian walkway on the second floor. Construction of the shopping centre was delayed temporarily due to damage suffered from Tropical Cyclone Justin in early 1997.
Cairns Central contains two department stores (Myer, and Target), two supermarkets (Coles and Bi-lo) and a six cinema complex. The Bi-Lo Mega Fresh supermarket in Cairns Central is the largest in Australia. There is also a 700-seat foodcourt with stores such as Sushi Train, Noodle Box, Bucking Bull, Sumo Salad and common stores such as McDonalds, KFC, Subway and Hungry Jacks.
The centre is jointly owned by Lend Lease, owners of other Australian shopping centres such as Sunshine Plaza and Canelands Central and The Westfield Group.
Cairns Central as of June 2008 recorded more than $353 million in sales and boasts centre visits of 10 million a year.[2]
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Major tenants include Myer, Target, Coles, Bi-lo, JB Hi Fi and a Birch Carroll & Coyle six cinema complex. Other tenants include City Beach, Best & Less, Pumpkin Patch, Terry White Chemist, Priceline and Crazy Clarks
The centre has, for the second time running, been named among the state's top shopping centres. Cairns Central on 13 February 2009 was named runner-up in the 2008 Queensland Shopping Centre of the Year Awards in the Super/Major regional centres exceeding 50,000 sq m.[3]
In August 2007 it was revealed joint owners Westfield and Australian Prime Property Fund were arguing about Westfield's insistence on managing the centre itself. APPF said it wanted current managers Lend Lease to stay in charge and Westfield took the matter to the New South Wales Supreme Court. A spokesman for APPF confirmed the matter had been referred for mediation, expected to start about February 18 2008. Westfield bought their 50% share in 2006 from Coles Myer and put itself forward as the centre’s manager but this was rejected by Lend Lease.[4]
As of June 2008 the joint owners still had not come to a conclusion. An attempt by Westfield in the New South Wales Supreme Court on Monday 16 June to force a public auction of the shopping centre – valued at $407 million – was rejected as was an alternative bid to appoint receivers to sell the centre. Lend Lease's contract over Cairns Central ran out on June 30th 2008 and was, and still is, uncertain who will manage the centre.[5]
Tenants of the centre have revealed claims that rent since Westfield bought the 50% share in 2006 rent had gone up substantially and that locally run shops were being forced out in favour of large national and international retailers.
There are also unsourced rumours that David Jones and Kmart are planning to move into the centre with Kmart being located on the top level carpark next to Myer. David Jones has made clear however that the company is not interested in the Cairns market at this time.
Cairns Central is accessible by Bus, and is one of the major Bus Interchanges on the Sunbus Cairns network. This is located on McLeod Street at the northern CBD entrance. The taxi interchange is located at the main CBD entrance opposite Shields Street.
Although not a suburban railway station as Cairns does not have a rail network, the Cairns Railway Station is located at the back of the centre near Bunda Street. It is the terminal for long distance commuter travel, mostly travelling south and an alternative station to start the Kuranda Scenic Railway and The Savannahlander.