Tooronga Village

Tooronga Village Shopping Centre
Tooronga Village front entryway, 2021
Map
LocationGlen Iris, Victoria, Australia
No. of stores and services29
No. of anchor tenants2

Tooronga Village is a residential, office and retail centre in the suburb of Glen Iris[1] in Melbourne, the capital of the Australian state of Victoria.

It formerly referred solely to a shopping centre, which temporarily closed in March 2008.[2] The mixed-use redevelopment by Stockland covers the former shopping centre site and part of the adjacent former brickworks site.[3] The redeveloped shopping centre re-opened in August 2010[4] and now has 22 shops, cafes and restaurants in addition to anchor tenants Coles Supermarkets and 1st Choice Liquor Superstore.[5][6]

Background

[edit]

The shopping centre dated back to the 1960s (Coles traded there from 1968)[7] but there was little development of the centre since the 1970s. In December 1985, developers Hudson Conway paid $1.25m for the adjacent former brickworks, despite a proposed open-space order on the site approved by the former Hawthorn Council ten years prior. Hudson Conway proposed extending the shopping centre into the brickworks site, substantially expanding the centre and including a discount department store. By 1990, Hudson Conway had varied its proposal several times to include potential combinations of a commercial centre, offices and hotel blocks. The proposals met with substantial local opposition led by the Tooronga Action Group,[8] and anti-development candidates were voted into Hawthorn Council. In 1991 a site-specific development zone was designated for the site, which allowed for more modest development comprising an office complex on the existing shopping centre site, and retail space on the former brickworks site.[9]

Hudson Conway failed to develop the site, and sold its half of the shopping centre site to Coles Myer in 1995. Pacific Shopping Centres subsequently sold its 50% share to Coles Myer in 1997. In 2000, Coles Myer, which had opened its head office on land immediately adjacent in 1986, had plans for a major retail and entertainment development of the precinct but never proceeded with them.[10] Finally, developers Stockland agreed in 2004 to purchase the site from Coles Myer (subject to planning approval) for $30m[11] and proceeded with plans for a mixed-use development, comprising residential, retail and office use. The Victorian State Government upset local residents by taking planning control away from Boroondara Council and approving the project.[12][13]

In addition to a redeveloped shopping centre of 8,000 sq.m., the overall development intended in five stages over five to seven years was originally planned to have 600 townhouses and apartments[6] (later expanded to 785 apartments)[5] plus office space (4,000 sq.m.) and provide some parking for the adjacent Coles head office.[6] The development works caused minor controversy in November 2008 with the revelation that drinking water was being used in large quantity across the site to suppress dust.[14] By June 2009, economic circumstances had led the developer to opt for a greater number of less expensive apartments.[15] By June 2010, 297 apartments were planned for the first stage of development, with a plan to expand to 785 apartments over five stages.[5] The car servicing franchise Ultra Tune planned to relocate its head office to the precinct.[5]

In December 2011, Stockland abandoned the remaining residential stages of the development, in line with its general exit from the apartment sector, opting instead to sell 7.7 hectares of the undeveloped land back to Coles.[16][17][18] In late 2013, Coles sold 5.4 hectares of this vacant land to St Kevin's College (unconfirmed at $23 million) for the purpose of sporting facilities, including three soccer pitches, a hockey pitch, Australian Rules oval, 12 tennis courts and 200 metre athletics track. This facility opened on the 17 June 2017.[19][20]

In March 2019, Stockland stated its intention to sell Tooronga Village shopping centre[21] and in July 2019, Newmark Capital announced it had purchased the centre, for a figure reported to be in excess of $62 million.[22]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Tooronga - centre information". Stockland. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  2. ^ "Tooronga Village shopping hub to shut". Progress Leader. 26 February 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
  3. ^ "Stockland lodges planning application for first stages of Tooronga Village" (PDF) (Press release). Stockland. 9 May 2007.
  4. ^ "Stockland goes north". The Age, Melbourne. 14 August 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d "In tune at Tooronga". Herald-Sun. 22 June 2010. p. 58.
  6. ^ a b c "Tooronga rebuild starts". Melbourne Herald-Sun. 7 June 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  7. ^ "Tooronga Store". Progress Leader. 17 August 2010. p. 11.
  8. ^ "Tooronga Action Group". Retrieved 28 June 2007.
  9. ^ V.Peel, D.Zion, J.Yule (1993). A History of Hawthorn. Melbourne University Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Karina Barrymore (31 January 2000). "Coles has red-hot expansion plans". Australian Financial Review. p. 30.
  11. ^ "Summerhill competition on the line". The Age, Melbourne. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
  12. ^ "Tooronga zoning new battle for Boroondara". Melbourne: The Age. 14 June 2006.
  13. ^ "Council calls urgent Ministerial meeting over Tooronga" (Press release). City of Boroondara. 1 November 2006.
  14. ^ "Developer sprays drinking water on dirt at Tooronga Village". Progress Leader. 19 November 2008.
  15. ^ Craig, Natalie; Dobbin, Marika (20 June 2009). "Penthouse prices tumbling". The Age, Melbourne. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  16. ^ "Stockland sale". The Australian. 3 December 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  17. ^ "Tooronga swap-fest". The Age. 3 December 2011. p. 25.
  18. ^ "Coles regains land". Herald-Sun. 3 December 2011. p. 82.
  19. ^ "St Kevin's College set to acquire Tooronga land from Coles for sporting fields". Property Observer. 6 August 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  20. ^ Pallisco, Marc (10 June 2015). "St Kevin's College flattens high density plan to create world-class sports campus". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  21. ^ "Vivid development pain in South Melbourne". The Age. 23 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  22. ^ Johanson, Simon (9 July 2019). "Newmark pounces on Tooronga Village in $62m deal". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 July 2019.

37°50′46″S 145°2′44″E / 37.84611°S 145.04556°E / -37.84611; 145.04556

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tooronga_Village&oldid=1244568315"