RetailPROPERTYSPECIAL REPORT Retail down turn more perfect storm than FEATURE rent recalcit rance Key takeaways • Vacancies worsened Charter Hall and ISPT in close prox- by oversupply of imity to the historic arcade, with new shops redevelopments of Raine Square and Forrest Chase transforming • Landlords willing their CBD offerings and luring ten- to invest are ants to shiny new premises. Outside of the city, billions have experiencing leasing been invested in recent years success upgrading some of the city’s big- gest shopping centres, with $350 • Opportunities Dan Wilkie million recently spent at Westfield
[email protected] emerge in food and Carousel, and the ongoing $800 mil- beverage services WALK through Perth’s lion redevelopment of Karrinyup Piccadilly Arcade offers a Shopping Centre the state’s biggest • Centres evolving Aglimpse of the challenges construction project outside of the their offering currently facing Western Austral- resources sector. to meet specific ia’s retail sector. In the past two years, more community needs What was once a thriving shop- than 300 new tenancies have been ping arcade has been reduced to a created via new developments or thoroughfare connecting the Hay expansions of existing centres, Street and Murray Street malls, including DFO Perth at Perth with a mass exodus of tenants to Airport, Raine Square, Westfield allow for redevelopment works Carousel, Forrest Chase, and Man- contributing to a growing percep- durah Forum. tion that Perth’s CBD is no longer And according to the centre a vibrant or interesting shopping owners, most of which are ASX- destination. listed entities or superannuation However, the reality is that Pic- funds, those new shops are more cadilly Arcade’s offshore ownership than 95 per cent occupied.