Shopping centre plans feature dining precinct for multigenerational community
LOS ANGELES: A shopping centre will recraft its dining precinct to better appeal to a multigenerational community.
The new Benowa Gardens shopping centre will have an “inner-city dining and retail precinct” at its heart.
Fresh plans for the proposed $1bn redevelopment of the 1990s-era shopping centre have been unveiled as city leaders prepare to vote on whether to approve the project.
The plans, put forward by developer Patrick Lu, show the shopping centre, which will sit below a three-tower urban village, is inspired by Brisbane’s Gassworks Plaza and West Village.
It will feature a 4000sq m supermarket, 30 specialty retail tenancies and a 7000sq m health and wellness precinct.
Mr Lu said a range of restaurants “similar to Social Eating House + Bar, Mamasan Kitchen and Mario’s Italian” were being looked at.
“This is about more than retail, it’s about how people live day to day,” Mr Lu said.
“When people can walk to the supermarket, access healthcare, meet friends for dinner and get to work more easily, it reduces both cost of living pressures and time spent travelling.
“The Gold Coast has been ready for this kind of integrated precinct for some time.”
Mr Lu said a range of local and national retail options were being considered “with brands such as General Pants, Universal Store, Change Alley, White Bohemian and Urban World reflecting the intended positioning”.
The residential towers are tipped to have around 415 units.
The existing shopping centre, built in the early 1990s, will be demolished to make way for the project, which is one of several large-scale developments put forward in the past year aimed at relieving pressure on the housing market.
Urbis director Melissa Griffin echoed recent comments made by Deputy Mayor and city planning boss Cr Mark Hammel that traditional shopping centres would increasingly become a thing of the past.
“The reality is that traditional suburban expansion alone is no longer enough to meet demand and this type of mixed-use precinct is exactly what strategic planning frameworks are encouraging,” she said.
“It’s about making better use of well-located land, placing housing, services and employment opportunities in areas already supported by infrastructure, rather than continuing to push further out.
“Projects like this demonstrate how we can accommodate growth in a more efficient, connected and sustainable way, while also improving access to everyday amenity for the community.”
The Bulletin revealed in February an “engagement review” of the Benowa project had received 81 per cent support from 6500 people surveyed.
Asked what type of new residential development would best benefit our community and future generations of homeowners, consultants received the following responses:
• More luxury beachside apartments (39 per cent);
• New homes in far northern suburbs with limited access to critical infrastructure and services (31 per cent);
• Affordable new apartments or “infill” development in existing suburbs close to vital services (84 per cent).