Garden City (Booragoon)

Not to be confused with Westfield Garden City.

Coordinates: 32°02′03″S 115°50′15″E / 32.0342°S 115.8376°E

Garden City Shopping Centre
Location Booragoon, Western Australia, Australia
Opening date 1972
Management AMP Capital Shopping Centres
Owner 75% AMP's Australian Core Property Portfolio, 25% WestART
No. of stores and services 272
No. of anchor tenants 5
Total retail floor area 71,714 sqm
No. of floors 3
Website gardencity.com.au

Garden City Shopping Centre (usually known as Garden City) is a major regional shopping centre in the city of Perth, Western Australia. Garden City is located at the corner of Marmion Street and Riseley Street in the southern suburb of Booragoon. Garden City is majority-owned by AMP Limited through its Australian Core Property Portfolio.

In recent years there have been, on average, 13 million annual individual visits to the centre, generating an estimated turnover of over A$500 million annually. In 2011, it grossed a Moving Annual Turnover of A$577.1 million giving it the highest turnover of any centre in the state and the 13th highest in the country. Westfield Carousel has the 2nd highest MAT in the state. Garden City has been owned and managed by AMP Shopping Centres since 1986.

History and development

The glass atrium, which has been a feature of Garden City since 1972, has since been extensively remodelled.

In the late 1960s, the planning department of the state government drew up a plan for several 'sub-regional' retail centres, which would form the commercial and economic focus of each 'node', and take the retail burden away from the CBD.[1] Booragoon, in the southern suburbs, was chosen as one of the ideal locations.[2]

Work on Garden City was undertaken by Hooker Corporation, and began in 1970. In December 1971, Lady Lloyd Jones placed a time-capsule in the ground. The centre was opened in 1972, and immediately became popular as the nexus of the Melville Civic Centre Complex, which had been established after the Melville Council Offices were built in 1968. The site was in the midst of sandy bush, not far from Applecross Senior High School and Wireless Hill Park.

Redevelopments

The original precinct

To visitors today, the original section of Garden City consists of everything from the Davy Street entrance (where the Post Office is situated), to where one reaches the newsagent. Garden City remained this way (with less than 100 shops) until 1983.

New department stores

In the early 1980s, moves were afoot to upgrade Garden City to meet growing demand. The shopping centre's owners went after big-name department stores. One department store retailer David Jones had withdrawn from Western Australia, and so Boans (West Australian predecessor to Myer) and Aherns (since taken over by David Jones) were selected to build two department stores. In 1983, the first major redevelopment went ahead at a cost of A$25 million.

Food court and cinemas

In the next decade or so, demand increased, resulting in the first major expansion in over a decade. In 1994, the current food court was built. This was followed in 1995 with the cinema complex. The new floor space of 48,000 square metres was however still considered inadequate, and so a second expansion was planned.

Major redevelopment

The second major redevelopment of Garden City commenced in January 1999 and was completed in October 2000. The main addition was a new eastern section with three parallel malls. Another big change, was the creation of a new 'marketplace' in the area previously occupied by K-mart, and the re-location of K-Mart to the north-eastern corner of the shopping complex. A new bus station was constructed to replace the old one. Another new addition to the shopping centre was the $2.71 million Newmart discount supermarket which opened its doors on 3 October 2000, creating 120 jobs for local people. Newmart would later go on to become an Action supermarket in time for Christmas 2003 and then a Woolworths supermarket in late 2005. This phase of expansion removed much of the ground level parking, replacing it with undercover and rooftop parking. Apart from minor modifications to several satellite buildings such as the demolition of a service station in 2005, the shopping centre has remained largely unchanged since.

Second major redevelopment

Following the finalisation of a transaction which gave AMP Capital 100% ownership of the centre, AMP announced on 25 October 2012 that it was planning to invest up to $400m to upgrade Garden City. The centre is proposed to increase from its current approximate 72,000sq.m to 120,000sq.m., making it the largest shopping centre in Western Australia. The redevelopment would result in a new David Jones, an additional supermarket, an additional discount department store, a new fresh food precinct and an outdoor dining area. Retail in the centre will remain largely single-level. Works on the redevelopment are expected to commence in early 2013 and take over 18 months to complete.[3]

Architectural features

As part of the major redevelopment in 1999 and 2000, a significant number of new striking architectural and aesthetic features were added, including a three storey atrium at the eastern end of the complex in the fashion mall.

Transport

A key Transperth bus station for the southern suburbs, the Booragoon bus station, is located on the shopping centre premises. It links to such routes as the 940 to Perth city centre,510 to Murdoch and the 501 to Fremantle. Garden City is amply provided with both undercover and open-air parking.

Facilities

At present, the main shopping complex has a floor space of 65,000 square metres. The entire centre is situated on approximately 300,000 square metres of land. The main shopping complex consists of a long main mall with several wings and side malls. Coles and Woolworths are the two principle supermarkets, while the anchor department stores include Myer, David Jones and discount department store K-mart. Notable speciality stores include Dymocks Bookstores, City Beach Surf-wear, Dick Smith Electronics, JB Hi-Fi and Apple Store with a further 200 speciality stores catering for all tastes.

In addition to shopping the main shopping complex, Garden City houses:

Major precincts

The main shopping complex can be broken into several main areas:

Major retailers

Major food and beverage outlets

Major food and beverage outlets within the centre include:

Aroma Cafe No major food restaurants reside outside of the centre.

References

  1. ↑ Stephenson, Gordon (1975). The Design of central Perth: Some Problems and Possible Solutions. A Study made for the Perth Central Area Design Co-ordinating Committee. UWA. p. 44. ISBN 0-85564-107-X. chap. 7 item 3 Regional shopping centres have been established in several suburbs. ..., and generally take the form of a pedestrian precinct surrounded by large car parks. [see also 7.2 and 7.4.]
  2. ↑ Joseph Gentilli (1979). Western Landscapes. University of Western Australia. p. 459. ISBN 0-85564-155-X.
  3. ↑ http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/15221083/400m-plan-to-double-garden-city/

Further reading

External links