Bendigo CBD shops vacant on Hargreaves Mall, Pall Mall and Lyttleton Terrace
A survey of Bendigo’s shopping streets found a shocking number of vacant lots, but business leaders say a revival of the commercial and retail sectors is imminent.
Bendigo
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A business renaissance in the wake of the pandemic could pump new life into Bendigo’s city heart and main shopping district.
A survey by The Bendigo News of the CBD found 47 vacant store fronts on Saturday January 23.
The 13 streets surveyed were Ball St, Chancery Ln, Hargreaves Mall, Lyttleton Tce, McCrae St, Mitchell St, Mundy St, Myers St, Pall Mall, Queen St, St Andrews Ave, View St, and Williamson St.
Empty showrooms and buildings plastered with ‘For Lease’ and ‘For Sale’ signs dot the majority of Bendigo’s main streets.
But Bendigo’s iconic Chancery Lane was thriving even in the wake of the pandemic, with all commercial spaces bustling with hospitality and retail stores.
Bull and Myers streets were the two other streets where all retail spaces were occupied.
The pulse of commercial activity in the city’s main shopping strip has weakened, with 17 empty storefronts on Hargreaves St and the connected arcade Killians Walk.
Chamber of commerce and Be Bendigo chief executive Dennis Bice said he saw only potential in the abandoned lots on the main street.
“Criticism of malls is something that happens fairly regularly,” Mr Bice said.
“For me it’s not about what it can be, not what is not.
“There is still a lot of opportunities.”
The local business advocate said the former jewel of Bendigo’s shopping precinct could be revitalised, with small businesses reopening, major business investment, population increases and an ambitious development plan for 2030 from the City of Greater Bendigo.
“There is a lot of upside for what can happen,” he said.
Mr Bice said a many Hargreaves St shops which were vacant for years had been sold in the past few months, with new businesses springing up “at the back end of the COVID period”.
“They have faced a major crisis head on,” he said.
“There’s a dynamic change here.”
Mr Bice said a six-storey, 110-room Mantra hotel development would transform three long-vacant Hargreaves St shopfronts into a bustling hub for the mall, with a cafe and restaurant, function rooms and boardrooms.
He said the revitalised retail and hospitality sector was being fed local support as well as a new businesses and customers fleeing Melbourne.
“One of the interesting things that will develop out of the new CBD is the laneway culture,” he said.
Mr Bice said tree-changers customers were trickling into Bendigo pre-COVID, but the trend was exacerbated by the lockdown.
“If you get more people you get more activity and if you get more activity, hopefully you get more spend,” she said.
“We still have a bit of work to do, but we have some big players moving to town.”
Mr Bice said a 100 gigabit broadband network program, “the 100 gig city”, three new hotel developments, and Qantas route expansions were all signs of business confidence in Bendigo.
BENDIGO’S CBD
Hargreaves St, between Mitchell St and Mundy St
1 Beehive Plaza, off Hargreaves Mall
198 Hargreaves St
238A Hargreaves St
264 Hargreaves St, on the corner of Williamson St
271 Hargreaves St
274 Hargreaves St
284 Hargreaves St
279 Hargreaves St
290-300 Hargreaves St
306 Hargreaves St
312 Hargreaves St
313 Hargreaves St
Killian’s Walk
Shop 1 in Killians Walk, on Hargreaves St
Shop 2 in Killians Walk
Shop 4 in Killians Walk
Shop 19 in Killians Walk
Shop 20A in Killians Walk
Lyttleton Terrace, between Mitchell St and Mundy St
Shop 6 Abbott Arcade, 7 Lyttleton Tce
267 Lyttleton Tce
279 Lyttleton Tce
289 Lyttleton Tce
Mundy St, between Myers St to Pall Mall
25 Mundy St
Mitchell St, between Midland Highway and Mollison St
1-3 Mitchell St
7A Mitchell St
7 Mitchell St
15 Mitchell St
21 Mitchell St
32 Mitchell St
35 Mitchell St
37 Mitchell St
42 Mitchell St
Pall Mall, between Chapel St and View St
133 McCrae St
30 Pall Mall
St Andrews Ave, between Lyttleton Terrace and Myers St
9 St Andrews Ave
Queen St, between Williamson St and Mitchell St
2 Centreway Arcade
Two stores closed at 12 Centreway Arcade
10 Queen St
View St, between Rowan St and Midland Highway
13 View Point
10 View St
37 View St
43 View St
85 View St
95 View St
97 View St
111 View St
Bendigo sale and auction results, week ending June 15
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Bendigo sale and auction results, week ending June 14
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