New Parafield retail outlet centre to create 500 jobs; opens late 2017
A retail outlet centre planned for Adelaide’s north is set to create around 500 new jobs when it opens late next year.
A RETAIL outlet centre planned for Adelaide’s north is set to create around 500 new jobs when it opens late next year.
The multi-million dollar District outlet centre, which will be built adjacent to Parafield Airport, is the brainchild of Western Australia developer DevWest, in its first foray into the SA construction market and is expected to be ready for the Christmas rush next year.
“Construction will begin early in the first quarter of next year, with a nine to 10-month build,” said DevWest development director Brett Lovett.
“It’s a case of supply and demand. Adelaide is currently served by only one brand outlet centre (BOC) outlet centre and from our research prior to acquisition, we were satisfied that the north of Adelaide should have a BOC.”
The 20 kilometre distance from the established Harbourtown, alongside Adelaide Airport, was pivotal to the concept, which matched many requisite fundamentals, he said.
“In terms of this location, the high visibility to Main North Road (over 900 metres of frontage), the passing traffic of over 47,000 cars per day together with an emerging commercial precinct as part of the overall Parafield Airport masterplan. It is also close to existing key anchors like Bunnings,” Mr Lovett said.
There will be around 200 fulltime jobs and 500 part-time jobs across construction and operation phases, he said.
Leasing agents Metier and Leedwell are currently seeking tenants for the centre and have received strong interest from national and international brands, he said.
They will be household names, said Mr Lovett, with sports apparel, homeware and food and wine among the sectors expected to take on some of the 70 leases. Leases on around half of the tenancies have already been agreed, he said.
The centre, designed by architects Hames Sharley, will boast an extensive food and beverage precinct, a large alfresco dining area with 588 new car parking bays to be introduced.
The population of the main trade area was 546,000 in 2014 and is predicted to be 638,000 by 2026, Mr Lovett said, which underpinned the decision to site the BOC at Parafield. “There are potential apparel sales of over $120 million by 2019,” he said. “Apparel expenditure by the main trade area population was $582 million in 2014 and is predicted to be over $669 million by 2026.”
The population growth rate is 1.5 per cent annually for the main trade area compared to 1 per cent for greater Adelaide, Mr Lovett said.
Demographics of the trade area population shows a higher than average proportion of young children living there, with an average of 2.5 people per household compared to the 2.4 average across metropolitan Adelaide. Leedwell associate director (leasing) Karolina Perre said interest was strong among potential tenants given the specific nature of shoppers flocking to outlet centres.
“At the end of the day people love getting a bargain and when they go to an outlet centre, they are already in the mindset to spend money,” she said.
Devwest has been responsible for the Dawesville and Wattle Grove shopping centres in WA along with numerous apartment blocks in and around Perth.