North Blackburn Shopping Centre is a one-stop shopping destination being redeveloped to create a community hub for the visitors of the mall and the nearby residents of Blackburn, Victoria, Australia.
The project involves a total investment of more than A$40m ($28.01m).
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The redevelopment will take place in three stages, with A$23m ($17m) stage one expected to be completed in June 2021.
The refurbishment will rejuvenate the shopping centre and strengthen its offerings in the market place. It will create between 80 and 120 jobs during the construction phase.
North Blackburn Shopping Centre location
Originally known as Old Orchard Shopping Centre, the 53-year old shopping centre is located at 66-104 Springfield Road, North Blackburn, on the corner of Williams Road and Springfield Road.
The name was changed to North Blackburn Square in the 1970s and to North Blackburn Shopping Centre in 1992.
Cushman & Wakefield manages the shopping centre.
North Blackburn Shopping Centre design and details
Opened in 1967, the shopping facility features 40 tenancies, including IGA supermarket and Woolworths Supermarket. The anchor tenants at the northern end of the shopping facility will include Liquorland, a fresh food offering, a new Coles supermarket and ten new speciality retailers.
Speciality retailers are expected to be opened in November 2020.
Sacca’s Fine Foods and fresh food offering are expected to be opened in February 2021, while the opening of Coles and Liquorland is scheduled for June 2021.
The redevelopment will also include improvements to community services such as an expanded medical centre, a food and beverage entertainment precinct, and a childcare centre.
Construction details
The redevelopment plans include replacement of rooftop mechanical plant, development of a hand car wash, and relocation of an existing supermarket.
The first stage involves the renovation of retail outlets, regrade of the existing northern car park, and establishment of a fresh food offering and a new Coles supermarket.
The stage one construction works began in May 2020. Ongoing works at the Springfield Road car park include the removal of gradient from the area and the rearrangement of the existing entry and exit points into a single location at the north-east corner.
A new electrical substation will be constructed and ceilings from the North Mall entrance will be removed to enable the installation of new ceilings and skylights to allow natural light into the mall.
Set to begin following the completion of the first stage, stages two and three of the project will include the opening of new service retailers and a new dining and food and beverage space.
Dining, entertainment and amenities at North Blackburn Shopping Centre
The shopping centre includes dining specialities such as Bakers Delight, Hong Hot Bread, TG Quality Butchers, and Ocean Eight.
GMH Vitamins, Allure Beauty Room, Expert Medical Care, healthSave Pharmacy, and Ross Caia Hair are some of the health and beauty related stores at the centre.
Existing stores in the home and lifestyle category are Doncare Op Shop, Danny’s Flowers, Strachan Eyecare and Gillian’s Jewellery. The mall also houses TSG North Blackburn, Flight Centre, Commonwealth Bank, Ben’s Repairs, and North Blackburn Dry Cleaners.
Free parking spaces, including reserved disabled parking, are provided.
Contractors involved
Schiavello Construction is the head contractor for stage one of the North Blackburn shopping centre redevelopment. Property advisory and project management services provider SEMZ was contracted to serve as the project manager for the redevelopment.
Hames Sharley and Taylor Robinson are the architects of the project.
Conceptus Property received a contract to provide due diligence, feasibility modelling, town planning approval management services, while Clarity Acoustics performed planning stage noise impact assessment for the renovation of the mall.
