Westfield Booragoon


Westfield Booragoon is a major regional shopping centre in the city of Perth, Western Australia. Westfield Booragoon is located at the corner of Marmion Street and Riseley Street in the southern suburb of Booragoon. 50% of the shopping complex is owned by AMP Limited through its Australian Core Property Portfolio with the remaining 50% owned by Scentre Group which owns and operates its properties under the Westfield name of which the company is derived from.
In recent years there have been, on average, 13 million annual individual visits to the centre, generating an estimated turnover of over A$500 million annually. In 2011, it grossed a Moving Annual Turnover of A$577.1 million giving it the highest turnover of any centre in the state and the 13th highest in the country. Westfield Carousel has the 2nd highest MAT in the state. Garden City has been managed under AMP Shopping Centres since 1986; Scentre Group has part-managed it since December 2019.

History and development

In the late 1960s, the planning department of the state government drew up a plan for several 'sub-regional' retail centres, which would form the commercial and economic focus of each 'node', and take the retail burden away from the CBD. Booragoon, in the southern suburbs, was chosen as one of the ideal locations.
It was decided to be named 'Garden City' and construction work was undertaken by Hooker Corporation which began in 1970. In December 1971, Lady Lloyd Jones placed a time-capsule in the ground. The centre was opened in 1972, and immediately became popular as the nexus of the Melville Civic Centre Complex, which had been established after the Melville Council Offices were built in 1968. The site was in the midst of sandy bush, not far from Applecross Senior High School and Wireless Hill Park.

Redevelopments

The original precinct

To visitors today, the original section of Garden City consists of everything from the Davy Street entrance, to where one reaches the Garden City Newsagents. Garden City remained this way until 1983.

New department stores

In the early 1980s, moves were afoot to upgrade Garden City to meet growing demand. The shopping centre's owners went after big-name department stores. One department store retailer David Jones had withdrawn from Western Australia, and so Boans and Aherns were selected to build two department stores. In 1983, the first major redevelopment went ahead at a cost of A$25 million.

Food court and cinemas

In the next decade or so, demand increased, resulting in the first major expansion in over a decade. In 1994, the current food court was built. This was followed in 1995 with the cinema complex. The new floor space of 48,000 square metres was however still considered inadequate, and so a second expansion was planned.

Major redevelopment

The second major redevelopment of Garden City commenced in January 1999 and was completed in October 2000. The main addition was a new eastern section with three parallel malls. Another big change, was the creation of a new 'marketplace' in the area previously occupied by K-mart, and the re-location of K-Mart to the north-eastern corner of the shopping complex. A new bus station was constructed to replace the old one. Another new addition to the shopping centre was the $2.71 million Newmart discount supermarket which opened its doors on 3 October 2000, creating 120 jobs for local people. Newmart would later go on to become an Action supermarket in time for Christmas 2003 and then a Woolworths supermarket in late 2005. This phase of expansion removed much of the ground level parking, replacing it with undercover and rooftop parking. Apart from minor modifications to several satellite buildings such as the demolition of a service station in 2005, the shopping centre has remained largely unchanged since.

Second major redevelopment

Following the finalisation of a transaction which gave AMP Capital 100% ownership of the centre, AMP announced on 25 October 2012 that it was planning to invest up to $400m to upgrade Garden City. The centre is proposed to increase from its current approximate 72,000sq.m to 120,000sq.m., making it the largest shopping centre in Western Australia. The redevelopment would result in a new David Jones, an additional supermarket, an additional discount department store, a new fresh food precinct and an outdoor dining area. Retail in the centre will remain largely single-level. Works on the redevelopment were expected to commence in early 2017 and take over 18 months to complete. However, as of December 2019, no major redevelopment works have not taken place.

Third major redevelopment

AMP Capital gained approval for the new $750 million redevelopment for Garden City. Once completed, the centre would have been Perth's largest shopping centre with AMP Capital forecasting the Garden City trade area to grow from 480,000 to 555,000 by 2026. However, after several delays and an eventual halt on planning and construction work, the plans were considered 'dead'.

Architectural features

As part of the major redevelopment in 1999 and 2000, a significant number of new striking architectural and aesthetic features were added, including a three-storey atrium at the eastern end of the complex in the fashion mall.

Transport

A key Transperth bus station for the southern suburbs, the Booragoon Bus Station, is located at the corner of Riseley and Marmion Streets, and is the fourth bus station to have existed on the shopping centre premises. A number of mainline and feeder bus services operate from or via the station.
Routes 114, 115 and 160 travel via Booragoon Bus Station en route to Perth City, originating from Munster, Hamilton Hill Hall and Fremantle respectively. The 510 provides a direct connection to Murdoch Station via Fiona Stanley Hospital to Murdoch. The 501 services Booragoon Bus Station while en route to Fremantle and Bull Creek station.
Westfield Booragoon is amply provided with both undercover and rooftop open-air parking.

Facilities

At present, the main shopping complex has a floor space of over 72,000 square metres. The entire centre is situated on approximately 300,000 square metres of land. The main shopping complex consists of a long main mall with several wings and side malls. Coles and Woolworths are the two principal supermarkets, while the anchor department stores include Myer, David Jones and discount department store K-mart.
In addition to shopping the main shopping complex, Westfield Booragoon houses:
The main shopping complex can be broken into several main areas: