North Blackburn Shopping Centre renovations expected to start by Christmas

After an exodus of stores and delayed revamp plans, work is finally set to start on a $40 million upgrade of a beloved North Blackburn shopping centre — and there’s plenty in store to entice shoppers. SEE THE DESIGNS.

Renovations at North Blackburn Shopping Centre are expected to start by Christmas.

Plans for North Blackburn Shopping Centre’s $40 million revamp are finally set be approved — more than a year after the centre’s redevelopment was announced.

And it’s hoped construction can get underway before Christmas, with the former home of the IGA supermarket to be the first section to be upgraded.

A series of businesses followed IGA — which closed on January 31 — in leaving the centre, with traders and customers growing increasingly concerned about its immediate future.

The revamp includes plans to open a new major national supermarket at the 51-year-old shopping centre, along with a series of new retailers and shopping precincts, a childcare centre, gym and entertainment area.

The carpark will be regraded to make it easier for trolleys, wheelchairs and shopping carts.

But the process has been slower and more difficult than hoped, with centre owners Australia Unity initially hoping construction would get underway early this year.

The company has been in negotiations with Whitehorse Council, with the council refusing to approve the plans, which went to a VCAT mediation session in April.

Australian Unity spokeswoman Nikki Panagopoulos said the council’s issues had been resolved and the company was waiting to get the final green light from the council for its plans any day now.

Stage one of the works, which Australian Unity hopes can get started before the end of the year, will involve making way for the new supermarket, regrading the carpark and revamping the outside of the centre.

The centre is set to get a new, larger supermarket and a fresh food precinct.

The floor space of the former home of IGA, on the eastern side of the centre, is set to be doubled. Ms Panagopoulos said the trading space would go from 2000sq m to 4000sq m to make way for a major national supermarket, which cannot yet be revealed.

She said it was hoped the supermarket would be trading by the end of 2020 or early 2021.

The next stage will involve rearranging the stores into precincts, including a fresh food precinct, medical precinct, hair and beauty precinct and introducing a range of new services and retailers.

A series of new traders are headed for the 51-year-old centre.

Ms Panagopoulos said 10 new tenants were already lined up, and negotiations were underway with a string of others, including a poulterer and another baker.

The centre will also get all new amenities and a modern parents’ room.

Other long-term plans for the centre include introducing an 80-place childcare centre and a gym, but no companies have yet been signed to provide the services.

Ms Panagopoulos said Australian Unity was also working on establishing an entertainment precinct featuring a range of restaurants.

The chemist is going to be moved to sit within the new medical precinct.

The renovation hasn’t started but changes have been taking place at the shopping centre since IGA moved out in January.

Traders and customers have been concerned a series of other shops — including a chicken shop, two dollar shop, Chi Chinese Massage, Nuts & Sweets, The Reject Shop, Ginger Asian Food and three clothing stores — have all shut down.

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Ms Panagopoulos said some tenants’ leases had ended, while others “were happy to take a bit of a holiday”, such as the massage centre, which would be returning to the new and improved centre.

She said Australian Unity was doing its best to engage with the community and make sure traders and customers were looked after while the transformation took place.

A redo of the centre’s facade is part of stage one of the renovations.

She said the staged process of construction work was to ensure the centre was minimally affected during the renovations.

“The key driver is to ensure the community isn’t disrupted significantly,” Ms Panagopoulos said.

Australian Unity has invited the community to a launch event to celebrate the redevelopment at the centre on Friday at 4pm.

Anyone interested can attend to hear about the plans from the architect.

RSVP to [e-mail] to attend.