Chadstone takes on top restaurants as shopping malls sharpen up
The latest expansion of the famous Melbourne shopping mall will introduce top restaurants and put food courts in the rearview mirror.
Business
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Melbourne shopping landmark Chadstone is looking to go beyond its pitch as the home of fashion and will launch a new precinct of laneway-style restaurants that aim to bring a touch of the CBD to the retail mall.
The shopping centre, half owned by billionaire John Gandel, is well past its 40th expansion since it was launched in 1960, and the latest move is aimed at foodies hunting for a meal in the suburbs.
The new dining precinct is trying to capitalise on both the work from home crowd, which has expanded with widespread acceptance of hybrid working, and the thousands of shoppers already in the centre.
Diners are expected not only from the hordes of shoppers that pass through Chadstone’s doors but also from a growing office population and even from the hotels that have opened on the site.
“It’s a market-leading precinct that we’re opening; there’s nothing else like it anywhere in the country,” Vicinity Centres chief development officer Carolyn Viney said.
“This is the calibre of offer that you would ordinarily find in a CBD and we are recreating that at Chadstone.”
The new entertainment and dining precinct will be called The Social Quarter and is on track to open this summer. The $71m project spans about 10,350sq m of new space and houses 18 dining and entertainment outlets.
There will be six new restaurant and food outlets: Cinque Terre, Cityfields, Piccolina Gelateria, White + Wong’s, Sardine Bar, and UA Brewing Co, including an onsite brewery producing sustainable craft beer exclusively for the precinct.
Four new entertainment brands – Archie Brothers, Strike Bowling, Holey Moley and Hijinx Hotel – are being brought in.
Ms Viney said the restaurants opening up are all leading brands in their own right and “haven’t typically been in a shopping centre environment before”. She added that the precinct opened itself to a broad audience as it would be open across weekdays, weeknights and weekends.
“We’re excited to be able to welcome visitors to enjoy high-end restaurants with spectacular views across Melbourne to the CBD and views to the sky through the state-of-the-art louvred glass roof made up of 468 individually glazed pieces,” Ms Viney said.
The new precinct will target a 5 Star Green Star rating under the new Green Star Buildings Tool. It has 199KW Solar Photovoltaic (PV) that will bolster the precinct’s building energy performance by more than 30 per cent.
Originally published as Chadstone takes on top restaurants as shopping malls sharpen up
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