Cairns Central

Cairns Central
Cairns Central from outside the main entrance on Shields Street.
Location	Cairns, Queensland Australia
Coordinates	16°55′30″S 145°46′19″E / 16.92500°S 145.77194°E / -16.92500; 145.77194Coordinates: 16°55′30″S 145°46′19″E / 16.92500°S 145.77194°E / -16.92500; 145.77194
Opening date	1997
Developer	Suncorp Coles-Myers
Management	Lend Lease
Owner	Australian Prime Property Fund
No. of stores and services	180
No. of anchor tenants	6 Myer, Target, Kmart, Coles, Event Cinemas, JB Hi Fi
Total retail floor area	58,000 m² ^[1]
No. of floors	2 (Trading area)
Parking	2,700
Website	www.cairnscentral.com.au

Cairns Central Shopping Centre in north Queensland, Australia is Cairns' biggest shopping centre. The centre was opened in late 1997 and is the second multi-story shopping centre in northern Queensland. The shopping centre is built over the Cairns Railway Station, which is incorporated with the centre. Pedestrian access to the station is through the car park on the bottom floor, or a pedestrian walkway on the second floor. Construction of the shopping centre was delayed temporarily due to damage suffered from Tropical Cyclone Justin in early 1997.

Cairns Central contains three department stores (Myer, Kmart & Target) one supermarket (Coles) and a six cinema complex. There is also a 700-seat foodcourt with stores such as Sushi Train, Noodle Box, Bucking Bull, Sumo Salad and common stores such as McDonalds, KFC, Subway and Hungry Jacks.

The centre is jointly owned by Lend Lease, owners of other Australian shopping centres such as Sunshine Plaza and Canelands Central and The Westfield Group.

Cairns Central as of June 2008 recorded more than $353 million in sales and boasts centre visits of 10 million a year.^[2]

Stores

Major tenants include Myer, Target, Coles, Kmart, JB Hi Fi and a Event Cinemas six cinema complex. Other tenants include City Beach, Best & Less, Pumpkin Patch, Terry White Chemists and Priceline.

Awards

The centre has, for the second time running, been named among the state's top shopping centres. Cairns Central on 13 February 2009 was named runner-up in the 2008 Queensland Shopping Centre of the Year Awards in the Super/Major regional centres exceeding 50,000 sq m.^[3]

Ownership Court Case

In August 2007 it was revealed joint owners Westfield and Australian Prime Property Fund were arguing about Westfield's insistence on managing the centre itself. APPF said it wanted current managers Lend Lease to stay in charge and Westfield took the matter to the New South Wales Supreme Court. A spokesman for APPF confirmed the matter had been referred for mediation, expected to start about 18 February 2008. Westfield bought their 50% share in 2006 from Coles Myer and put itself forward as the centre’s manager but this was rejected by Lend Lease.^[4]

As of June 2008 the joint owners still had not come to a conclusion. An attempt by Westfield in the New South Wales Supreme Court on Monday 16 June to force a public auction of the shopping centre – valued at $407 million – was rejected as was an alternative bid to appoint receivers to sell the centre. Lend Lease's contract over Cairns Central ran out on June 30th 2008 and was, and still is, uncertain who will manage the centre.^[5]

Tenants of the centre have revealed claims that rent since Westfield bought the 50% share in 2006 rent had gone up substantially and that locally run shops were being forced out in favour of large national and international retailers.

Public Transport

Cairns Central is accessible by Bus, and is one of the major Bus Interchanges on the Sunbus Cairns network. This is located on McLeod Street at the northern CBD entrance. The taxi interchange is located at the main CBD entrance opposite Shields Street.

Although not a suburban railway station as Cairns does not have a rail network, the Cairns Railway Station is located at the back of the centre near Bunda Street. It is the terminal for long distance commuter travel, mostly travelling south and an alternative station to start the Kuranda Scenic Railway and The Savannahlander.

Cairns Central Gallery

Cairns Central from the air facing south, circa 2006
Cairns railway station at dusk
Cairns Central in the evening

References

External Links

Shopping centres in Queensland

Brisbane	ANZAC Square Arcade Brisbane Arcade Broadway on the Mall Brookside Shopping Centre Capalaba Central Shopping Centre Capalaba Park Shopping Centre Forest Lake Shopping Centre Indooroopilly Shopping Centre Logan Hyperdome Lutwyche City Shopping Centre MacArthur Central McWhirters Morayfield Shopping Centre Mount Ommaney Shopping Centre The Myer Centre, Brisbane Toombul Shopping Centre QueensPlaza Redbank Plaza Riverlink Shopping Centre Taigum Square Shopping Centre Toowong Village Valley Metro Westfield Carindale Westfield Chermside Westfield Garden City Westfield North Lakes Westfield Strathpine Wintergarden, Brisbane

Gold Coast	Australia Fair Shopping Centre Centro Surfers Paradise Chevron Renaissance Chevron Renaissance Shopping Centre Harbour Town Oasis Shopping Centre Pacific Fair Shopping Centre Robina Town Centre The Strand at Coolangatta Westfield Helensvale

Sunshine Coast	Kawana Shoppingworld Noosa Civic Stockland Caloundra Sunshine Plaza

Rockhampton	City Centre Plaza Stockland Rockhampton Northside Plaza

Townsville	Castletown Shoppingworld Domain Central Stockland Townsville Willows Shopping Centre

Other	Cairns Central Caneland Central Grand Central Shopping Centre

List of shopping centres in Australia

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, September 04, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.