Shopping Centre

Shopping centres are dragging customers back in and investors are following suit as big malls re-emerge as an attractive asset class.

Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent annually on new attractions to lure the punters into shopping centres and the owners of the former Myer Centre – now called Uptown – are going to splash $500m. But what will they be spending it on?

Big shopping centres withstood the recession in the 1990s and will do so again if tough times return.

The sale of a stake in the $900m centre will be a litmus test for the market as big malls are turned into destinations for living and entertainment.

The sector’s defensive characteristics are drawing big investors even as retail property deals slow.

An empty retail precinct in the heart of Whittington could be resurrected as a shopping centre, or even become a church.

The once renowned battler suburb’s shopping hot spot has had a multimillion-dollar ownership shake up — with another nearby district soon to go up for sale.

Private fund managers are making the running as the retail property market resets.

Major shopping centres are better positioned than top office towers to deal with an expected influx of electric vehicles into capital cities as they have more chargers.