When was burwood westfield built

This would be the first time that a Westfield property would be completely razed and rebuilt from the ground up. The million dollar reconstruction project got underway in January The complex encompassed approximately , lettable square feet and housed over shops and services. There were 3 levels of retail; Ground , 1 and 2. Above these was a 3-level car park.

This store was rebannered, as a Myer, in February Westfield Burwood is a large shopping centre in Burwood , in Sydney , Australia. The centre first opened in and was completely rebuilt in The event is held in Burwood Park, opposite Westfield. Westfield Burwood first opened in October , and was one of the first shopping centres in Australia.

The original centre was partially built on the site of the old Hoyts Astor theatre which was rebuilt as the Hoyts Burwood. Farmers was the original main store becoming a subsidiary of Myer and later renamed Grace Bros. The event is held in Burwood Park, which is opposite Westfield.

The original centre was half the size it is today, and was first to have a Hoyts cinema inside the centre later closed sometime in the s. Westfield Burwood was renovated in and again in The redevelopment doubled the size of the original centre, allowed for more stores in the centre and created "Food on the Park", the food court that extends to a balcony overlooking the park. The new Westfield Burwood was opened in August Shopping centres solved the problem of traffic congestion that was beginning to plague suburban high streets and offered a social space for people to congregate.

These centres also provided a curated mix of shops that could be shaped to meet market needs, and facilitated the expansion of retail chains.

Air conditioning added to their appeal. Westfield was but one of numerous small developers seizing opportunities in a rapidly changing market. But from very early on the firm had higher ambitions. By retaining the centres it built in an investment portfolio, Westfield obtained cash flow, security for finance, and assets that could be upgraded through expansion and redevelopment.

The other major early developers were retailers themselves. Department store firms like Myer, Grace Bros, Boans and David Jones played an important role in establishing large-scale shopping centres in Australia, and the supermarkets were also heavily involved in development. Over time, though, specialist developers, managers and landlords like Westfield and Lend Lease became the dominant players.

These firms proved highly adept at incorporating new retail models and entertainment formats into shopping centres: discount department stores in the s ; food courts and cinemas in the lates; category killers in the s; the recent shift to include more services and restaurants.

Retail, though, is about access to goods. Shopping centres were an innovation in the middle of the last century that proved superior to other forms of distribution.