Forestway Shopping Centre: Frenchs Forest retail hub sells for $100m

This northern beaches’ shopping centre is 57 years old, is popular with the locals and just sold for $100 million.

Shoppers leave the popular Forestway Shopping Centre at Frenchs Forest in 2015. Its new owners want to keep it around the same size, but have plans to “improve the parking, appearance and tenancy mix”. Picture: Manly Daily

A popular, but ageing shopping centre on the northern beaches has been sold to a Sydney-based property investment and management company for $100 million.

Revelop, which has its head office at Parramatta, confirmed to the Manly Daily it has purchased the Forestway Shopping Centre at Frenchs Forest.

Previous owners, the giant US investment firm giant Invesco Assest management, paid $112m for the then 57-year-old mall in 2015.

An artist’s impression of the proposed redevelopment of the centre’s by the previous owners that included demolishing part of the mall and introducing more parking, shops and office space. Picture: Supplied

Invesco had plans to spend $114m to partly demolish and redevelop the centre — one of the largest on the northern beaches — which now accommodates Woolworths and Aldi supermarkets, a McDonald’s and 37 retail and hospitality outlets.

It wanted to double carparking to 740 spaces on the 2ha site near the intersection of Forest Way and Warringah Rd. Invesco also promised there would be “enhanced food and beverage” including a large restaurant.

There would have been a childcare centre, a medical centre, a two-level basement car park and a gym as well as more shops and office space.

But the redevelopment was knocked back by the Sydney North Planning Panel in late December on the grounds it would generate too much traffic on residential streets and did not meet many “environmental planning grounds”.

Forestway Shopping Centre at Frenchs Forest sells for $100 million. Picture: NSW Real Estate.

Close to 100 public submissions were previously made to Northern Beaches Council from residents opposed to the redevelopment.

“(It) will result in a development which will create an undesirable precedent such that it would undermine the desired future character of the area and be contrary to the expectations of the community,” the council wrote in its assessment report.

Revelop director Charbel Hazzouri said it would draw up a masterplan that stuck to the general scale of the current centre, but would “improve the parking, appearance and tenancy mix”.

The new owners want to make Forestway a “one stop shop” neighbourhood shopping centre. Picture: Troy Snook

Mr Hazzouri said he wanted to keep it as a “neighbourhood shopping centre” that offered a “truly one stop shop” customer experience”

“Forestway was a strategic acquisition that allowed us to build on an established local centre that offered vast upside opportunities without detracting from the convenience that makes Forestway a favourite with our locals.

The new owners of Forestway Shopping Centre say they will “improve the tenancy mix” at the 57-year-old mall. Picture: Braden Fastier

“Once the plans are finalised we will commence a staged delivery focusing on expansion and improvements of our current tenants, introduction of new tenants to improve the mix and experience and look to the larger scale improvements.”

Mr Hazzouri ruled out the planning “for a scale previously sought by our predecessors”.