Major makeover planned for Box Hill Central by landlord Vicinity Centres

ANOTHER shopping centre in Melbourne’s east is set to get an upgrade, with plans to give aging Box Hill Central a “very special” makeover.

BOX Hill Central is in line for a “very special” makeover, with landlord Vicinity Centres planning to sell up to $1 billion of smaller retail assets to pay for upgrades of its flagship centres.

Vicinity executive general manager of development Carolyn Viney described Box Hill Central as a “high-quality asset”.

While Vicinity was being tight-lipped about its exact plans, Ms Viney said the group wanted to take advantage of Box Hill Central’s “location, demographics and projected population growth as well as the continued evolution in what our customers want”.

MELBOURNE HOME TO AUSTRALIA’S BIGGEST SHOPPING CENTRES

VICINITY TO SELL $1BN OF SHOPPING CENTRES

“We believe the opportunity exists to enhance what’s already in and around Box Hill with something not only complementary but something that brings a point of difference for customers and the community,” she said.

HAVE YOUR SAY: What shops would you like to see at Box Hill Central? Tell us below

“The scale of our landholding (equivalent to about four CBD blocks) and its strategic position directly above the train station gives us a unique opportunity to do something very special and that’s what we’re working hard to do.”

It doesn’t look much now, but Box Hill Central is getting a “very special” makeover.

Whitehorse Business Group chairwoman Kathryn Collier said news of the investment was “a feather in the cap” for Box Hill.

“When it’s completed it will be a fantastic centre and will probably have some different offerings to what we’ve had before,” she said.

“It will be good to see how it’s transformed. It still has a bit of a market feel and I’m sure they’ll keep some of that flavour but they’ll add something new to make it more attractive and appealing.”

It comes as a much-needed boost to the retail sector in the area after Big W announced it was closing its Forest Hill store as reported last month in the Whitehorse Leader.

Vicinity’s asset-sale plans come amid a challenging retail environment, with cautious consumers worrying about lacklustre wages growth or turning to online shopping platforms such as Amazon.

Vicinity chief executive Grant Kelley said: “You’ve got to, in a challenging environment, specialise more than you had to in the recent past.”

Box Hill Central is owned and managed by Vicinity and includes Big W, Woolworths, Coles and Harris Scarfe and more than 190 speciality retailers.