Vicinity Centres and Salta Properties have unveiled ambitious plans for a $900-million redevelopment of Richmond’s only real shopping mall, in a move that promises to transform the fringe Melbourne neighbourhood. The two partners, who jointly own the 19-year-old Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre 5km east of central Melbourne, are seeking planning approval for 1679 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments in more than half a dozen buildings ranging up to 17 storeys with about 45,000sq m of new retail and commercial space. What the partners are calling “a sustainable urban village” will cover a 5.2-hectare swathe of north-east Richmond in an area bounded by Victoria Street, River Boulevard and Burnley and Doonside streets. The plan would add about a hectare of new public open space. The Doonside precinct and the existing Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre are jointly owned by Vicinity and Salta, while Salta wholly owns the River Boulevard precinct.  Vicinity chief executive officer and managing director Peter Huddle said the proposal reflected a long-term strategy to transform the site to a sustainable mixed-use urban village, while also responding to the change in consumer preferences to live, work and play close to home. “The development will seamlessly connect Victoria Gardens to the surrounding community and deliver a vibrant fresh food Market Hall for Richmond’s growing population,” Huddle said.  “It will also offer more diverse housing options in an amenity-rich, urban environment to improve wellness, productivity, and social connection.” According to a Vicinity spokesperson most buildings will be between six and 12 storeys, consistent with the area’s urban landscape. A 17-storey building is proposed at the centre of both the Doonside and River Boulevard precincts. The partners want to create two main precincts for their masterplan, both in the hands of design teams from Melbourne-based Cox Architects and NH Architecture. The Doonside Precinct, to the south of the existing shopping centre, will have six new residential buildings with a total of 839 apartments. A fresh food market hall will be part of slightly more than 12,000sq m of retail and commercial floorspace, and there’ll be 3500sq m of new public open space. ▲ A render of part of the proposed $900-million retail precinct in Richmond. The River Boulevard Precinct will connect the area east of the shopping centre to the Yarra River corridor through a series of thoroughfares, creating more than 6200sq m of public open space. That precinct will add 840 apartments in an as-yet unnamed number of residential buildings, as well as 6700sq m of additional retail and about 26,600sq m of commercial office space.  There’ll be a childcare centre with capacity for 110 places. Apartments in the two precincts will be a mix of one, two and three bedrooms, and between them, will have parking for nearly 1850 vehicles as well as 845 bicycles. Vicinity and Salta are lodging planning applications for the redevelopment through the Victorian government’s Development Facilitation Program, which was set up during the early days of Covid-19. Its aim is to streamline decision-making with a focus on projects that deliver jobs, provide a public benefit as well as investment into the Victorian economy.  The partners said they expected to work closely with the Department of Transport and Planning as well as the Yarra City Council. The partners’ plans come at a time when retail spending has grown to its highest point in 36 years. ▲ That precinct will add 840 apartments. According to research released by Urbis earlier this month, retail spending across the country grew by 11.3 per cent. The 20-year average is just 4.8 per cent. The same research, authored by director Ian Shimmin, showed while shoppers are visiting city retail centres less, they are actually spending more money.  In the past three years for example, across the so-called “Covid States” of Victoria, NSW and the ACT, foot traffic to CBD centres was down 54 per cent but turnover per person was up about 28 per cent. While e-commerce as a percentage of all retail is growing, physical stores still account for around 80 per cent of spending. Urbis expects that to continue, with average retail spending to grow about 4.5 per cent across Australia in the next four years. “The proposal is the coming of age of Victoria Gardens – from shopping centre to a thriving and sustainable urban village in the heart of Richmond,” Salta’s managing director Sam Tarascio said. “It will deliver new public realms and open spaces and evolve to become a place to not only work and shop – but live, connect, rest and play,” he said. Tarascio said the proposal aimed for net zero carbon emissions for residential common areas and back-of-house services.  The redevelopment would also see the restoration of the heritage-listed Loyal Studley Hotel, built in 1891. About 680 construction jobs a year will be created by development which is expected to support more than 3300 ongoing jobs once finished. ▲ Inside Victoria Gardens in Richmond. Victoria Gardens was officially opened in 2003. Vicinity acquired a half share from Salta later the same year.  Vicinity and Salta are understood to have acquired a site immediately south of the Victoria Gardens late in 2019. Corelogic property records show that 1-9 Doonside Street, also south of the centre, last changed hands in August 2019 for $13.85 million. Speaking at the time, Vicinity’s then-chief development officer Carolyn Viney foreshadowed the centre's expansion. “The acquisition of this land, which shoulders our Victoria Gardens asset, means we can now progress planning for both a retail expansion of the centre and an exciting mixed-use development opportunity," Viney said at the time. The shopping centre, which counts Coles, Kmart, Hoyts, Rebel Sport, JB Hi Fi and Chemist Warehouse among its 63 tenants, boasts about 38,000 lettable square metres, and carparking for 2127 vehicles.  IKEA is in the same complex. Latest figures from publicly-traded Vicinity’s annual general report show the centre is valued at $310 million.   The same report showed the real estate investment giant owns 59 shopping centres across Australia worth a collective $14.5 billion. Victoria Gardens is expected to remain open during development. You are currently experiencing The Urban Developer Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals. Click here to learn more.
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