Shopping Centre

The international spread of the coronavirus is the latest challenge to hit the ailing mall sector, ­already dealing with a series of retail chain collapses, an extended drought and the impact of bushfires along the eastern seaboard.

The retail property market has received a boost with US private equity giant Blackstone sealing a deal to sell the Brimbank Plaza shopping centre in Melbourne’s northwest to a consortium led by Malaysian-backed group Mulpha for about $150 million.

The John Bond-led Primewest has snapped up an office block and a shopping centre in Western Australia in deals worth $65m in total as it buys fresh assets that will add to its $4 billion property funds empire.

National retailer Harris Scarfe will shut more than 20 stores across Australia after the company was placed in receivership.

Competitive e-sports spaces, VR experiences and a quick commute to a co-working space could become part of your shopping experience as malls look to fill the gap created by department store downsizing.

Vicinity Centres chief operating officer Peter Huddle has one of the biggest tasks in Australian retail property. He is responsible for driving the performance of some of the best luxury malls in the country — including Sydney’s much-loved QVB and Melbourne’s landmark Chadstone — while also turning around some of Vicinity’s less glamorous properties.

A smattering of retail landlords will be scrambling to renegotiate leases with the receivers of fallen retail homewares chain Harris Scarfe.

The shopping centre industry has been bolstered by the sale of a half-stake in one of Perth’s largest properties, the $1.1bn Garden City, to local Westfield owner, the Scentre Group.

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