Melbourne shopping centres: Owners of city’s major retail destinations include some big names worth billions

Television characters Kath Day-Knight and Kim Craig, portrayed by actors Gina Riley and Jane Turner, shopping at Fountain Gate in a scene from the show.

As the festive season hits full swing, many Melburnians will be hitting the city’s major shopping centres to buy gifts or splurge on post-Christmas sales.

Many of our retail hubs are well-known for not only their stores, entertainment offerings and hospitality venues but also for their place in Australia’s cultural landscape.

While the iconic television show Kath & Kim’s main characters, mother and daughter Kath Day-Knight and Kim Craig – portrayed by program’s co-creators Jane Turner and Gina Riley – often visited Westfield Fountain Gate in Narre Warren, many scenes from the program were actually filmed at Southland in Cheltenham.

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The Victorian-era Block Arcade in Melbourne’s CBD featured in the crime series Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, while martial arts star Jackie Chan appeared in a movie shot at Melbourne Central.

Released in 1997, the Mr Nice Guy flick’s Chinese language poster showcased a staged image of Coop’s Shot Tower getting blown up

The tower, a circa-1889 manufacturing building, was incorporated into Melbourne Central’s build.

And while many shopping plazas have hosted music performances, Eastland in Ringwood might win the crown for holding the coolest concert.

Legendary rock band AC/DC took to the stage at Eastland as part of their High Voltage Australian tour, in 1975.

Movie star Jackie Chan on a horse and carriage in Swanston St, Melbourne, during the filming of Mr Nice Guy. Picture: New Line Cinema.

AC/DC, consisting of band members Mark Evans, Bon Scott, Phil Rudd, Malcolm Young and Angus Young, performed at Eastland in 1975. Picture: Gary Graham.

Kim and Kath frequented the Fountain Gate shopping centre on the television show, but Southland shopping centre was mostly where they filmed the scenes.

Showbiz aside, Melbourne’s malls are also worth plenty of moolah, with several boasting valuations into the millions and billions of dollars.

The circa-1892 Block Arcade in Collins St is owned by the wealthy Cohen family, who founded the vacuum cleaning empire Godfrey’s and later sold it for $300m.

In 2020, the family paid about $100m for the Block Arcade.

Australia’s largest shopping centre, Chadstone in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, is home to more than 550 stores.

Owned by the retail property group Vicinity Centres and the Gandel Group, Chadstone is worth a whopping $6.725bn, according to company reports.

The Gandel Group was founded by billionaire John Gandel whose parents immigrated to Australia from Poland and established the Sussan clothing chain.

A 2023 Vicinity report stated that its major shareholders include the Gandel Group, the US-based investment management company The Vanguard Group and Australian superannuation fund UniSuper Limited.

The Block Arcade at Christmas. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Ian Currie.

Shoppers Ben Mickle and Jay Squires at Chadstone shopping centre. Picture: David Crosling.

Vicinity Centres also owns, or has a stake, in several other shopping centres including a 50 per cent share in Lonsdale St’s Emporium Melbourne, which has more than 200 stores.

The second half of Emporium is owned by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC.

Meanwhile, Myer’s iconic flagship Bourke St store is co-owned by Vicinity, the Sydney-headquartered investment management company Abacus Funds Management and real estate investment trust Charter Hall. The nine-level Myer mecca is valued at $432m.

Vicinity’s other interests include the DFOs in South Wharf (worth $720m), Essendon ($192m), Bundoora’s Uni Hill ($187m) and Moorabbin ($97m).

Additional centres in Vicinity’s portfolio are Altona Gate, Box Hill Central North, Broadmeadows Central, Oakleigh Central, Sunshine Marketplace, Glen Waverley’s The Glen and Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre in Richmond.

Shoppers Shanali Martin and Tess Homann in front of Myer’s Bourke St department store. Picture: David Caird.

Another major player in Melbourne’s retail scene is the Scentre Group, which owns 37 Westfield shopping centres across Australia.

Kath & Kim’s lead characters’ favourite hangout, Westfield Fountain Gate, is valued at $1.925bn.

Scentre Group also has a 50 per cent share in Westfield Doncaster, which has a $1.06bn value plus Southland (worth $690m).

Other Westfields in Wantirna South (valued at $592.5m), Mill Park ($257.5m) and Airport West ($187.5m) round out the Scentre Group’s Melbourne holdings.

With 177,755sq m of floor space, Fountain Gate in Narre Warren is Australia’s second-biggest shopping centre. Picture: Chris Eastman.

In Melbourne’s west, the ASX-listed real estate investment trust GPT Group — which has its main offices in Sydney — owns Maribyrnong’s Highpoint shopping centre.

GPT Group purchased half of the retail giant for about $621.2m in 2016, before snapping up the other half for $680m more than a decade later.

Melbourne Central, on the corner of La Trobe and Swanston streets, was acquired by the GPT Group for $408m in 1999.

In addition, the company manages Malvern Central, owned by UniSuper.

Earlier this year, GPT announced it was selling its 50 per cent stake in the Northland shopping centre, with commercial real estate agencies Colliers and CBRE appointed to manage the marketing campaign.

GPT purchased its half share in the Preston retail precinct from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for $496 million, in 2016.

Coop’s Shot Tower, which was completed in 1889, was incorporated into Melbourne Central’s build during the 1990s. It is named after the Coops family, who also managed the Clifton Hill Shot Tower. Picture: Jason Edwards

An interstate organisation that owns a handful of Melbourne shopping centres is the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), an investment company owned by Queensland’s government.

QIC owns Eastland, the Watergardens Town Centre in Taylors Lakes, Pacific Epping, Craigieburn Junction and Merrifield City in Mickleham, and has a stake in Pacific Werribee.

The Queensland company is currently looking to offload Melton West’s Woodgrove shopping centre which is expected to fetch about $500m.

Colliers’ Lachlan MacGillivray and JLL’s Sam Hatcher and Nick Willis have the Woodgrove listing.

And Craigieburn Central, in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, is owned by South Yarra-based property investment company IP Generation, after it bought the property for $300m in 2023.

An artist’s render of how the Bourke Street mall entrance at the redeveloped Melbourne Walk arcade will look. Picture: Buchan.

Back in Melbourne’s CBD, the former Walk Arcade in Bourke St, now known as Melbourne Walk, announced in December that its new anchor tenant would be JD Sports.

The arcade was built in the 1980s, incorporating older buildings, and was refurbished in 1991, but closed its doors in 2020.

Developer Steadfast Capital’s $100m-plus plans to redevelop the site were approved by the City of Melbourne that year.

JD Sports has more 4500 stores across the globe, in 36 countries. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Christian Gilles.

Construction is underway to transform the arcade into a mixed-use retail and hotel site offering more than 37,164sq m of gross floor area, with up to 35 tenancies across three levels.

The redevelopment will retain the facades of the circa-1936 Diamond House and the 1908-established Public Benefit Bootery, along with those of other historic buildings.

A rooftop restaurant, bar, and lounge will offer views of the Bourke St mall, and two hotels will also be included in the build.

Buchan Group is the project’s lead architect, with architectural practice and heritage consultancy Lovell Chen providing advice.

Building firm Hickory Group and project management specialist Codicote will oversee construction.

Highpoint shopping centre in Maribyrnong. Picture: Jason Edwards.

The JD Sports’ store will span 1631sq m and is set to become the retailers’ largest Australian flagship store, plus its second shop in Melbourne’s CBD.

“By securing a prime location in one of Melbourne’s most iconic retail hubs, Bourke Street Mall, we are tapping into the city’s vibrant, fashion-forward culture and growing demand for sports lifestyle product,” JD Sports ANZ chairman Hilton Seskin said.

JD Sports, which opened its first store in the UK in the 1980s, now has more 4500 stores worldwide.

Inside Melbourne Central, which is home to more than 500 retailers across three levels.

Steadfast Capital’s executive director Teck-Lay Tay said the company was in discussions with

other retailers across entertainment, fashion, and food and beverage sectors regarding Melbourne Walk.

“We envision this vibrant tenancy mix will cater to a range of CBD residents and visitor including office workers, tourists and students,” Mr Tay said.

Commercial real estate agency Colliers’ Michael Bate, Michael Tuck and Tom Larwill negotiated the lease between JD Sports and Melbourne Walk.

Melbourne Walk’s build is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025.

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