A development application has been submitted for the refurbishment of the tired Lutwyche City shopping centre by the new owners Abacus Property Group and Zenonos Group who in 2015 bought the centre for $65 million.
The proposed refurbishment consists of the following changes:
- A new 3,400sqm Woolworths supermarket
- Extension to exterior building footprint
- Internal re-orientation of tenancies
- A new child care centre, heath care services, retail tenancies and office space
- New delivery and loading facilities
- Public realm improvements and landscaping
- Centre refurbishment and improved facade presentation
Designed by Ignite Architects, the refurbishment also includes the development of a number of tenancies overlooking Chalk Street which incorporates a long balcony running parallel to Chalk Street.
The Lutwyche-Woollowin area has a total of 36 new residential apartment developments either recently completed, under construction or about to commence marketing which equates to well over 1,000 new apartments for the immediate area.
Due to the recently completed busway station infrastructure as well as lower than average apartment price points, there has been a dramatic influx of younger demographic to the Lutwyche area which has created new retail demand.
This is the first major refurbishment for Lutwyche City since it was built in 1974.
As a local resident, I was hoping for more of an active street frontage and more sub-tropical design elements in the refurbishment. The existing centre, whilst on a busy road frontage, is so divorced from both the streetscape and the community generally by virtue of its enclosure and dead frontages.
Surely the presence of two side streets in Chalk Street and Lowerson Street presented the opportunity to replicate a development like Gabba Central which, though not the best design example, has activated Gibbon Street and allows natural light and air into the centre.
I’d love to see another concept that better aligns with Council’s design guidelines.
Can you spell Wooloowin? That’s the name of the suburb:
“The Lutwyche-Woollowin area…”
Will the leaky roof finally be repaired, or we still be greeted with buckets and dirty towels every time a drop of rain falls.
Will the underground car park no longer flood in heavier rainfall.
Where are all the retailers going? Dumb move to get rid of a newsagent which is why many people go to Lutwyche to begin with, and most of the next available newsagents have other shops nearby, so no need to visit Lutwyche anymore…
No, people go to Lutwyche because of Coles and Aldi. The newsagent is nice to have but I have lived in the area for over a year and have only used it once. I visit Coles multiple times a week. So obviously they want to make the centre more attractive by having a more modern look and a new eatery.
The centre is so ugly it should be razed to the ground and re-built from scratch to a far better design. It’s dark, gloomy, dreary and squalid. Every centre should have a newsagent. And a decent greengrocers.
A cinema would have been nice and outdoor restaurant food court area in Chalk Street and Lowerson Street as previously mentioned. Evan and bar and restaurant area would have been nice.
I don’t think we need Coles, Aldi AND Woolworths in this small centre…
I think a department store would have been much better than Woolworths.. e.g. Kmart. As a local I would really appreciate it so I don’t have to go to other centre’s like Toombul.
It’s bern suggested that the free parking limit at Lutwyche will be 2 hours only. Can anyone clarify whether this is factual?
No developer can really afford to raze a retail centre anymore Ann – the cost of doing so, paying out all the leases, losing the income, building a new centre and re-leasing all the tenancies (probably at lower rates than they are currently getting) along with the inevitable incentives (such as free fitouts, rental holidays etc) makes it an impossible proposition.
In terms of the less than perhaps desired amount of active frontage, in a lot of cases the actual owner/developer has little to no control over what a major tenancy such as Woolworths want – the supermarket dictates all the shots. In terms of major tenants – Discount Department Stores (ie: K-Mart) are currently shaky, marginal businesses which shopping centre owners are pretty thoroughly apprehensive about, whereas Aldi, Woolworths and Coles are very strong performers, and will still be there in five to ten years.
Regarding parking – I don’t actually know this centre or its location so well, but if it sits next to a transport hub you might find that a significant number of parking spaces are taken by people using it as a free carpark while they tootle off to work on the bus or train, every parking space used this way is one that is not there for people who want to buy their groceries (or visit the newsagent) – every parking space costs the developer around $40K to $50K to build, and they kind of deserve to use them the way they are intended to be. There has been plenty of study done, and 2 hours is more than the average stay in a retail centre – in any case the cost per hour after that is usually pretty minimal compared to, say, a Secure Parking Carpark.
It’s not great, it could have been better, but there are many factors not immediately apparent that dictate developments like this, and at least they are not sitting on their hands watching the centre degenerate further.
Could larger and more trees be put on the footpath? Rather than small to medium trees. This would soften the impact of the buildings and balance the man made and natural landscape