Box Hill Central Shopping Centre
Box Hill Central Shopping Centre is a regional shopping centre complex (made up of two separate centres) located in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Box Hill in Victoria, Australia. It is approximately 16 kilometres (10 mi) east of Melbourne's central business district and both shopping centres are centrally located within the Box Hill shopping precinct and Whitehorse City Council's Principal Activity Centre.
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| Location | Box Hill, Victoria, Australia |
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| Coordinates | 37°49′10″S 145°7′24″E |
| Opening date | 1975 (North) 1987 (South) |
| Developer | Vicinity Centres |
| Management | Vicinity Centres |
| Owner | Vicinity Centres (100%) |
| No. of stores and services | 177 North: 72 South: 105 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 3 North: 1 South: 2 |
| Total retail floor area | 37,971 m2 (408,720 sq ft) North: 14,259 m2 (153,480 sq ft) South: 23,712 m2 (255,230 sq ft) |
| No. of floors | 3 |
| Parking | 2, 417 North: 901 South: 1, 516 |
| Public transit access | Box Hill station |
| Website | www |
History
Box Hill Central - North
Box Hill Central - North was originally constructed in the early 1970s. It was opened in 1975 as a three level regional shopping centre, called Whitehorse Plaza. It housed anchor tenants such as Coles, Kmart Australia, Venture, with other notable tenants being Sussans, Williams The Shoeman, Priceline, Lincraft, Medicare and more retailers, eateries, and services.
Although, due to lack of tenants, it was closed down in 2000. The shopping centre was completely redeveloped, which consisted of demolition of all tenancies within the shopping centre, reconfigure of the main shopping centre layout & car parks as well as major refurbishment of the external as well as the internal facades. It was reopened on 1 July 2003 by Centro Properties Group as Centro Whitehorse (although called Whitehorse City while under redevelopment), now a two level regional shopping centre with Coles and Best & Less clothing store.
In 2007 Centro Whitehorse was re branded as Centro Box Hill North and partially redeveloped, with Best & Less being closed down and expanded/renovated to a brand new Harris Scarfe store, now the flagship store in Victoria.
In 2013 it was rebranded to Box Hill Central - North, as a result of an organisation wide rebranding of all centres owned by Federation Limited.
On February 2nd, 2020, Harris Scarfe closed it store at Box Hill, as part of its restructure and downsizing of its store count.
It is also common for faith groups to share tracks and cheerful Christmas music in the outdoor areas. Particularly, multi-cultural groups featuring a certain Tzar Maher have been found to be effective. With his ethnicity providing beautiful juxtaposition in the Asian-dominated demographics of the patrons, his voice, hair and even beard, have impacted observers and astonished on-lookers alike. Others have also proven effective. Andrew Llort (JCfan), "Go Chew a Bomb", Senpai Alicia, Vincent and Peking Duck have also been seen in the area.
Box Hill Central - South
Box Hill Central - South was originally constructed in the early 1980s, when the old Box Hill railway station, and level crossing was removed, and Market and Main Streets were closed to traffic. Box Hill Central opened in 1987, as a single level regional shopping centre. It housed anchor tenants of Target Australia and Safeway.
The shopping centre was redeveloped in 1998 and in 2000 was acquired by the Centro Properties Group, who renamed it to Centro Box Hill South, though many still referred to it as Box Hill Central.
In 2010, the shopping centre was again redeveloped, with Target converted into Big W, and Safeway being converted to Woolworths.
In 2013, it was again rebranded, as Box Hill Central - South, as a result of an organisation wide rebranding of all centres owned by Federation Limited
Unusually, the shopping centre has a large indoor fresh food market located along the eastern edge of the complex. The original market opened in 1895 which was incorporated into the shopping centre when it was developed.
Tenants
Currently, The two shopping centres have a combined gross lettable area of 37,995 m2 (408,970 sq ft). This is made up of 3 anchor tenants (Big W, Coles and Woolworths) and over 190 retailers, eateries and service providers. The shopping centres also has 2,537 parking spaces, as well as approximately 100 professional office suites in professional office towers. Previous tenants of Box Hill Central are Kmart, Kmart Food, Target, Venture, Harris Scarfe, Best & Less and more.
The Box Hill region is well known for its large population of Hong Kong Chinese, with smaller groups of mainland China, Taiwanese and Vietnamese. This is reflected in the diversity of the produce in fresh food markets, medicinal herb retailers and clothing shops. In addition to the familiar European market offerings, the market area stocks an extensive range of traditional Asian foods.
Box Hill Central (North and South) has an annual turnover in excess of A$150 million.
Transport
Box Hill Central - was built above Box Hill station and the entrance is contained inside the shopping centre. The complex also has a major bus interchange, with tram route 109 terminating nearby on Whitehorse Road. It passes through the inner eastern suburbs en route to Port Melbourne via the Melbourne central business district. There are a few bus stops situated around both the shopping centres and they are both situated in Zone 2. Box Hill Central has 7 levels of undercover car parking. The shopping centre has bicycle racks located at most major entrances as well as an on-site taxi rank.