Westfield Hurstville

Westfield Hurstville
Westfield Hurstville before 2015 redevelopment
Location Hurstville, New South Wales
Coordinates 33°57′58″S 151°06′19″E / 33.9661934°S 151.10518460000003°E / -33.9661934; 151.10518460000003Coordinates: 33°57′58″S 151°06′19″E / 33.9661934°S 151.10518460000003°E / -33.9661934; 151.10518460000003
Opening date 9 October 1978
Management Scentre Group
Owner Scentre Group (50%)
DWPF(Dexus Wholesale Property Fund) (50%)
No. of stores and services 259
No. of anchor tenants 6
Total retail floor area 61,928sqm
No. of floors 7
Parking 3,020
Public transit access Hurstville railway station
Website www.westfield.com.au/hurstville

Westfield Hurstville is a shopping centre in the suburb of Hurstville in the St George area of Sydney, Australia.[1]

History

Westfield Hurstville officially opened on 9 October 1978 by then NSW Premier Neville Wran. The centre featured Coles New World, Waltons (originally located at Southside Plaza at Rockdale), Nock & Kirby, Franklins and Best & Less. It was the first shopping centre in Australia to feature a quiet park on top of the centre. The park was known as Snowy Hill Park which was named after former alderman and mayor of Hurstville, Gordon William 'Snowy' Hill. Hill who served 19 years at the council, being elected mayor in 1962 and 1963. He died on 2 June 1978. The decision to name the park in recognition of Hill's services to the local community was made at a Special Hurstville Municipal Meeting shortly after his death. A pedestrian ramp from Croft's Avenue was constructed to allow pedestrian access to the park from street level. The park was officially opened by Mr Kevin Ryan MLA, former mayor of Hurstville, on 7 April 1979 and was popular for shoppers who wanted a quiet break from shopping. In 1987, the Waltons chain was sold by Alan Bond to the Cookes family in which the remaining stores split into Venture and Norman Ross.[2]

Westfield Hurstville was redeveloped extended across Park Road towards The Avenue with a retail bridge linking both sides of the centre in the 1990s. Grace Bros, Kmart, Greater Union cinema and 125 speciality stores were added to the centre as part of the extension. Venture then relocated next to Grace Bros. The celebration of the opening of the redevelopment and the opening of Grace Bros was held on 10 April 1990. The opening of the store was popular with hundreds of locals queuing up to snap up a bargain which took one hour for the store to make $51,000 in sales. The Grace Bros store was originally planned to open in the Southside Plaza at Rockdale, but due to David Jones planning to open a Hurstville store, with a possible site near the current location of Hurstville Library on Queens Road, Grace Bros amended the plan and opened at Hurstville. Venture, which took over Norman Ross, relocated from its original space to the space next to Grace Bros. Snowy Hill park was later converted to the rooftop carpark. After the redevelopment of the centre, shops on Forest Road started to decline after the centre took trade away from the street and the plans for a pedestrian mall on Forest Road, to be known as Forest Road Mall or Hurstville Boulevard, were proposed.

During the 1990s, many high-end stores and stores such as Brashs and Intencity closed. Intencity previously opened in 1995 and was the first in the chain to open on the space vacated by BBC Hardware until it was taken over by Target in 1997.[3] The Toys "R" Us Babies "R" Us Kids "R" Us store (which replaced the two-level Venture store in 1993) shrunk to become a one-level store with the bottom level of the store taken over by Rebel Sport which then was taken over by Aldi. Franklins closed in 2001 and was taken over by Food For Less in 2002 and operated until November 2015 when Woolworths opened at the other end of the centre. Grace Bros (renamed to Myer in 2004) became sole department store until its closure in early 2015. Despite having many variety stores added, the centre was criticized in the 2010s for lack of high-end retailers, department stores and having too many discount and cheap stores. It was also criticized for being run down and in need of redevelopment.[4]

Recent development

In early 2015, Myer made a departure from the centre after deciding to not renew their lease and was followed by Toys "R" Us Babies "R" Us Kids "R" Us.[5][6][7] On March 2015, the centre underwent a $100 million redevelopment which was completed by 18 November 2015.[8][9] The centre celebrated the opening of the redevelopment on 19 November 2015. The redevelopment consists of:

  • A full line Woolworths and JB Hi-Fi on the bottom floor of the Myer space
  • A Big W and Cotton On on the first floor of the Myer space.
  • A Rebel Sport was added to the centre on the half of Kmart
  • A new relocated Best & Less on the space vacated by Toys "R" Us Babies "R" Us Kids "R" Us
  • A rooftop alfresco dining precinct.
  • A refurbished Greater Union Cinema renamed Event Cinemas which added a large VMAX screen (the largest in the Southern Hemisphere)
  • New floor finishes, lighting, ceiling treatments, furniture and soft furnishings
  • New ticketless, number-plate recognition system parking

Westfield Hurstville is expected reach an average of $17 million in spending and can support a trade area of over 329,000 people.[10]

Future

Plans for six towers up to 20 storeys high and containing 1249 units could be built above the centre under a planning proposal before Georges River Council. The towers would be approximately 18 to 20 storeys above the existing centre from the top of the roof carpark and each tower would include 456 residential apartments, 793 mixed use units consisting of serviced apartments and student accommodation. There are also requests to increase the floor space of the development. If approved by the council, the planning proposal will go to the Department of Planning for Gateway before being put on exhibition for public comment. The plans are expected to be finalised by March, 2018.[11]

Tenants

Westfield Hurstville has 61,928m² of floor space. The major retailers include Kmart, Big W, Target, Aldi, Coles, Woolworths, Cotton On, JB Hi-Fi, Rebel Sport and Event Cinemas

Incidents

  • On July 4, 2003, a woman aged in her 60s fell five floors to her death from a rooftop carpark. Reports from the media of this incident was suicide.[12]
  • On November 4, 2014, shopping trolleys were thrown off from a rooftop carpark which landed on a car and bus. A woman in her 50s who was in the car suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene. Two boys aged 15 and 16 were taken into police custody and were cautioned under the Young Offenders Act.[13]
  • On February 3, 2016, a bus driver was crushed between his own 46-seater bus and a parked bus outside the centre and died. Police said that the 41- year-old, was hit seconds after he left his vehicle, which police say rolled forward. Despite the desperate efforts of paramedics, the driver died at the scene in Park Rd.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Westfield Hurstville". Scentre Group. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  2. ↑ "Hurstfield – Act II: Hubris (1975-1988)". Past/Lives of the Near Future. 2013-09-23. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
  3. ↑ "Intencity/Target – Hurstville, NSW". Past/Lives of the Near Future. 2015-01-21. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
  4. ↑ "Hurstfield – Act III: Nemesis (1988-2013)". Past/Lives of the Near Future. 2013-10-25. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
  5. ↑ Heary, Maria Galinovic, Monica (2014-11-06). "'My store' no more: Myer pulls out of Westfield Hurstville". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
  6. ↑ Galinovic, Maria (2014-11-20). "Toys'R'Us to leave Westfield Hurstville". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
  7. ↑ Cummins, Carolyn (2015-05-07). "Myer closures create 'opportunity' for Scentre Group". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
  8. ↑ Galinovic, Maria (2015-03-13). "Westfield Hurstville gets a new look with $100 million upgrade". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
  9. ↑ "Westfield Hurstville revamp begins". Inside Retail. 2015-03-18. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
  10. ↑ "Westfield Hurstville revamp begins". Inside Retail. 2015-03-18. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
  11. ↑ Gainsford, Jim (2017-08-18). "Westfield Hurstville aims high". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
  12. ↑ "Media 'sparked suicide tragedy' - theage.com.au". www.theage.com.au. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
  13. ↑ Beichert, Kahlia (2014-11-07). "Police interview two boys after shopping trolleys thrown off Westfield Hurstville onto car". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
  14. ↑ "Bus driver pinned after leaving vehicle". Retrieved 2016-11-05.
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