Yeperenye Shopping Centre in Alice Springs tests the market for five-storey expansion
An Alice Springs shopping centre boss has unveiled a proposal for a five-storey development featuring a rooftop bar and restaurant, parking, and ground floor retail – here’s what needs to happen for it to become a reality.
Alice Springs
Don't miss out on the headlines from Alice Springs. Followed categories will be added to My News.
An Alice Springs shopping centre boss has unveiled a proposal for a five-storey development featuring a rooftop bar and restaurant, parking, and ground floor retail, saying he can make it happen so long as the market demonstrates a demand.
Yeperenye Shopping Centre first shared images of the proposed development last month, with new information continuing to trickle out.
The development would feature a rooftop bar and restaurant, up to 325 carparking spaces, ground floor retail anchored by a ‘mini major’ tenant of up to 1500 sqm, an al fresco casual dining restaurant, and up to two drive-through eateries.
The Aboriginal-owned centre is currently running an expressions of interest campaign in a bid to lock in prospective tenants and give management confidence their investment would be worthwhile.
Yeperenye Shopping Centre managing director Owen Cole told the NT News a local operator had expressed strong interest in operating the rooftop bar and restaurant.
“We’ve got an existing licensee who might be interested in operating that rooftop bar restaurant and closing one or more [of their existing] takeaway liquor licenses,” Mr Cole said.
Regarding the ‘mini major’ tenancy that would anchor the new developer, Mr Cole said he would “love to have a JB Hi-Fi”.
“But they’ve got to want to come to Alice Springs,” he said.
“We’re putting it out to the market and hopefully national retailers will express an interest.”
Separate to the proposed expansion, Mr Cole said Yeperenye had locked in an expansion and redevelopment of its outdoor dining precinct on Hartley St.
Inside Out Retail Property agent Pieter Haverhoek is seeking expressions of interest for a “new outdoor casual dining restaurant” to join the Hartley St precinct.
Mr Haverhoek is also hoping to lock in new tenants for four existing vacancies within the centre proper: a small food court operator, a 50 sqm store “ideally suited to barber, beauty, lashes or massage store,” an 80 sqm corner food tenancy, and a 220 sqm fashion store.
Mr Cole said he hoped the “positivity” from Alice Springs Town Council’s CBD revitalisation project and Yeperenye’s proposed expansion would held rebuild confidence in the battered Red Centre capital.
“We want to see Alice Springs get back to its original state of being a great town to live,” he said.
“I want to see that returned.”
Addressing both his proposal and the council’s CBD revitalisation project, the final designs and budget of which is still being worked through, Mr Cole said he believed the lack of convenient parking was the biggest barrier to greater trade in the city centre.
As such, he was supportive of the council option of building a four-storey car park on top of the existing car park at the corner of Hartley and Gregory Tce.
This is also the most costly option of expanding carparking on that corner, expected to cost up to $27.4m.
The NT News previously reported the council expected to budget between $18–$23m for the CBD revitalisation project.
LISTED: All the winners from the Motorsports NT Awards
Motorsports NT celebrated another huge year for its thousands of members in its annual awards night celebrating the best competitors, volunteers and officials. Check out all the winners.
From Sassy J to Senator: Jacinta Price tells all in new book
Thrust to front of the nation during the Voice referendum, many may think they know Jacinta Nampijinpa Price – but her new memoir is seeking to change that perception.