Shopping Centre

Shopping centre owners and tenants have been urged to quickly come to a fresh agreement that includes sharing the pain of losses suffered during the coronavirus crisis after federal cabinet rejected an initial scheme developed by retailers and landlords in a surprise move on Friday.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg were getting the same message as me: an all out, no holds barred “dog-eat-dog” war had broken out between commercial tenants and landlords.

Westfield owner the Scentre Group has received a share market boost after announcing it has secured more bank facilities in a move that lifts its liquidity position to $3.1 billion over the next two years.

Retailer David Jones is moving closer to selling the site of its flagship menswear store in Melbourne’s famed Bourke Street shopping precinct, winning strong interest around the $120 million mark with Newmark Capital one of the groups in the ring.

Shopping centre owners and key national retailing bodies have reached a deal to negotiate behind closed doors about how they will confront the fallout from coronavirus, with unilateral walkouts by tenants threatening to tear up their leases taken off the table.

Shopping centres have been rocked by the six-month freeze on evictions ordered by Scott Morrison on Sunday night.

Australia’s peak shopping centre body has called on landlords to help retailers fight through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shopping centres have become the major focus of efforts to keep essential services open while also stopping the spread of the coronavirus at a time when their operations are on the brink.

Shopping centre owners are ripping seats out of dining courts as they rapidly refit their malls for an almost overnight shift to food ­delivery.