Bankstown Central Shopping Centre is a shopping centre situated in Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia. Opened as Bankstown Square on 21 September 1966, it was at the time Australia's largest and was one of Sydney's first major shopping centres. The development of the shopping centre was a moment of significance in the development of Bankstown as a satellite centre of south-western Sydney. A major centre of governmental and community service provision as well as retail commerce, the shopping centre remains an important part of the civic life for this region of Sydney. Today, the centre has over 240 speciality stores including a number of major retail stores. The shopping centre has undergone several refurbishments and additions. The most recent work in 2007–2008 involved extension of the shopping complex to a block of land opposite Lady Cutler Avenue.
History
Early years
The shopping centre was developed as Bankstown Square by Lend Lease Corporation and opened in 1966. It was at the time Australia's largest shopping centre, and remained for many years the flagship property in Lend Lease's portfolio. It was also one of Sydney's first major shopping centres. The development of the shopping centre was a moment of significance in the development of Bankstown as a satellite centre of south-western Sydney. Not only did it bring major retailers such as David Jones Limited, the premium department store, to the area for the first time, it also became a centre of community and governmental service provision for south-western Sydney.
Change of ownership and rebranding
In 2002, the centre was owned 50-50 by the General Property Trust and the Government Superannuation Office. In October 2002, GPT divested its 50% interest in Bankstown Square to Centro Properties Group for $176 million, the remaining 50% share was sold to another Centro vehicle in 2003. The shopping centre was renamed "Centro Bankstown". Centro Properties Group was restructured in 2011 due to financial difficulty and accounting irregularities. The successor entity, Federation Limited, rebranded the centre to "Bankstown Central" in 2013.
Redevelopment
The shopping centre has undergone a two-stage major "redevelopment program" which was completed in mid-2008.
Stage I: Extensions and relocations (2006–2007)
In July 2006, the extension to the complex was completed adding 26,000 m² of retail space and bringing the total gross leasable area to 66,500 m². It features a new Woolworths, the largest Big W in NSW, as well as 28 additional speciality stores. Franklins moved to the old Woolworths premises in December 2006, and a new mall featuring twenty new stores opened in November 2007 where it was once located. The new mall connects the Grand Market fresh food area with the food court. New stores were opened, some stores closed down, while others relocated or underwent major renovations.
Stage II: Myer Bankstown (2007–2008)
opened on 17 May 2008, on the site of the old David Jones store. David Jones pulled out of the Bankstown site after the 40-year lease of the store was up because the area did not fit their demographics, making the store unprofitable. This is similar to the swap that happened at Westfield Eastgardens and Westfield Burwood, the latter in a reverse direction with David Jones replaced a Myer store. The Bankstown Myer store stocks more than the old David Jones store and is the largest store at Bankstown at 10,150m². Plus a new National Australia Bank branch was located next to the RTA.
Future redevelopments
Vicinity Centres is planning 2 billion redevelopment of Bankstown Central. The redevelopment includes building multiple towers over the shopping centre and creating an additional 300,000 square metres of new space. Development applications are set to be lodged in early 2020.
Incident
On 29 April 2016, a shooting incident occurred on a rooftop carpark of Bankstown Central just before midday. One person was shot dead and two others were injured. The shooting was a targeted and payback attack and the incident could be connected with a fatal shooting in Condell Park earlier in April. The carpark was closed after the incident and the centre continued trading as normal.
