$2bn spending spree makes Chadstone our number one
Shoppers spent nearly $2 billion at giant Melbourne shopping centre Chadstone last year, making it the highest turnover centre in the country as the largest fortress malls defy the retail gloom.
Top-tier centres scooped a ranking of the highest-selling and most productive malls in Australia, although other locations saw a drop in productivity amid a challenging retail environment, the Shopping Centre News Big Guns 2018 Report showed.
Retail landlords have been remixing their centres to include eateries, massage parlours and experiences that can’t be bought online as they deal with the dual headwinds of sluggish wages growth and a shift to online shopping.
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Some landlords are also transforming their centres into mixed-use destinations, with a hotel project underway at Chadstone and apartment towers coming to Melbourne’s The Glen.
The new Chadstone hotel will open in late 2019. Picture: Leader.
Chadstone, jointly owned by Vicinity Centres and billionaire John Gandel, recorded $1.94bn in moving annual turnover during 2017, up from $1.52 billion the previous year and in the wake of a major refurbishment that opened late in 2016.
Mirvac’s Broadway Sydney was the most productive centre, with $14,545 in moving annual turnover per square metre, up 0.5% on the prior year.
Westfield Sydney took the title of highest specialty turnover per square metre at $22,194, up 4.8% from a year earlier.
But the picture was mixed, with some malls faring worse than the year before.
For example, specialty productivity dropped 5.2% at Westfield Chermside in Brisbane and fell 5.7% at Canberra Centre.
Turnover was also lower at Westfield Southland, down 3.9%, and Castle Towers, down 2.3%.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
