COM: [Gepps Cross] Home HQ Gepp X | $170m

[Queen Anne]

Some good tenants here.

From the Advertiser:

Gepps Cross centre draws interest

SARAH MARTIN

March 25, 2009 12:15pm

BIG-NAME retailers new to SA will open their doors in June at a $170 million retail centre at Gepps Cross.

Developers hope the new centre, which covers 16.5ha on the former abattoir site, will be able to lure customers to shop in spite of the economic downturn.

The site will be twice the size of the Mile End Homemaker Centre and will comprise 48 tenancies and two cafe areas.

A much-anticipated public road connecting Main North Road and Port Wakefield Road is also being created.

Harvey Norman will open its largest SA store at the centre - a 12,000sqm super store which will be the largest in SA and the second biggest in the country.

Discount furniture retailer Super A-Mart will open its first SA store in the complex, as will Victorian baby goods retailer Baby Bunting.

Harris Scarfe has also committed to the centre and will launch its new concept store Harris Scarfe at Home.

The centre is 75 per cent leased and on track to open in June this year.

JB HiFi, Nick Scali, Pets Domain, Dreamland, Truscotts Casual Living and Radio Rentals are among the 21 confirmed tenants.

The site is being developed by Axiom Properties, Charter Hall and Harvey Norman.

CB Richard Ellis director of retail services John Savva said he expected the site to attract shoppers looking for bargains.

"A lot of retailers are viewing this sort of complex as a place of the future which offers customers comparative shopping - it is a one stop destination for major purchases,'' he said.

Axiom Properties general manager Paul Rouvray said the development was 80 per cent complete, and he was confident the centre would be 90 per cent leased at opening.

"There is no where else like this in SA. It has a very impressive list of tenants,'' he said.

This is not the "future" this is the last 20 years, or so, in America. And it aint pretty on a number of levels, imo.

I choose not to accept this future, so I won't be shopping there.

[fishinajar]

This is not the "future" this is the last 20 years, or so, in America. And it aint pretty on a number of levels, imo.

Agreed this concept has been around for a while.

It does however seem to work.

It does seem to be gaining popularity.

How is it "not pretty"? It allows you to shop around for major purchases without driving all over the city?

I choose not to accept this future, so I won't be shopping there.

Where do you live? Seattle-Adelaide, or Seattle America?

I will shop there for major purposes [man enough to admit it].

[Prince George]

Ah, our stay in Seattle is but a temporary one. In the not-so-distant future we will be returning to Adelaide, when we can shun places like this one in a more active sense. In the meantime, we've been warming up by trying to be choosey about where we shop over here. And, let me tell you, it takes some effort.

So, what's not to like about these places? Well, far from not having to drive all over town, you have to drive across town for any purchase that you're likely to make because these stores are all in a handful of places - apart from petrol, that's always local. And since you have to get to those places, the city is thoughtfully provided with roads in all directions for me and all the friends that we spontaneously make thereon. And, in turn, the mall/outlet centre/whatever has provided liberal quantities of carparking, often half or two-thirds of the area of the whole centre. And, as the cherry on the cake, the buildings themselves are those magical giant concrete shoe-boxes that gladden the heart. But this pleasure is not greedily hoarded by just one location, oh no, it's repeated over and over again across the city, county, state, and country.

But there's evidence of trouble in this paradise. Store closures are happening predominantly in those suburban areas, when petrol prices went up people wanted to shop locally, and there's growing talk that big-boxes in car-oriented centres are a generational choice of baby boomers rather than younger shoppers - for example, this article from Toronto, or the Wharton School of Business at the Uni of Pennsylvania who's study reported that 80% of survey respondents were dissatisfied with their last shopping trip (quoted here), the whole thing's not available online, but the abstract (word doc) mentions “Eighteen to 24-year-olds have the most problems shopping in malls, particularly with parking, boring shopping experiences, and too many teens hanging around".

Yes, it is easy to grow in popularity when you're the only game in town. But when there's other options on offer, these places aren't such a clear winner.

UPDATE - hang on, Harvey Norman? They had a store already just around the corner from this place at Enfield that they're closing to move into this one. So the increase in useful options is small (big shop became bigger shop), they've spent money building this new place so it can't afford to be cheap, and that older centre is left without an anchor tenant. Likewise, there's a Truscott's further up Main North Rd that I imagine is a dubious proposition with the Truscott Casual Living opening at this place. And Nick Scali are looking like their finances are getting shakey - they're trading at 20% of the value they were at 18 months ago.

[Brando]

Gerry Harvey gives SA a glowing endorsement in this article ahead of the HQ opening.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 82,00.html

Retail king backs our `thriving' South Australia

MILLIONAIRE Gerry Harvey has endorsed South Australia as a "thriving metropolis", ahead of the opening of a $170 million homemaker centre at Gepps Cross.

Mr Harvey, who is part-owner of the centre, claimed to be Australia's largest, insists he's not taking a gamble, despite the economic doom and gloom.

"The interesting thing about SA is that it's one of the strongest states of the lot at the moment, Mr Harvey told The Advertiser.

"If you look back over the last 20 years SA has never been in this position. SA was a sleepy hollow, but it's now become a much more thriving metropolis.

"It's alive and moving and our sales in SA are holding up nearly better than anywhere else in Australia. SA is very strong."

The successful entrepreneur was rated seventh in this year's BRW executive rich list, amassing a personal fortune of $723.7 million, while running a company with a market value of $2.8 billion.

But the economic downturn has taken its toll on company profits and earlier this year he closed five of the company's office supply stores and a furniture store in Sydney.

The Enfield store will also close, but only because of the opening of the nearby Gepps Cross homemaker centre in June, with Harvey Norman maintaining its nine-store presence in SA.

Mr Harvey backed an Access Economics assessment SA would defy "the sharpest deceleration Australia's economy has ever seen" to become one of the nation's strongest states over the next three years.

He pointed to mining, defence and the latest unemployment figures as the factors setting the state apart.

While SA's unemployment rate worsened last week, it was not by as much as other states, climbing to 5.9 per cent – up from 5.7 per cent.

SA is also defying the national rise in bankruptcies, one of only two states to record a drop in bankruptcies and insolvencies in the first three months of the year.

"With Roxby Downs, that gives SA a lot of optimism," Mr Harvey said.

"A combination of all the things is making SA business very strong.

"In the last three or four years the really strong places have been WA and North Queensland. But SA is holding up equally as well as those two places in this climate."

The 16 1/2ha homemaker centre will employ an estimated 700 people on the former abattoir site at Main North Rd, Gepps Cross.

It will be twice the size of the Mile End Homemaker Centre, with 48 tenancies and two cafes.

Mr Harvey, who visited the site weeks ago, describes it as one of Australia's "hottest sites".

At 12,000sq m, his superstore will be the largest Harvey Norman store in SA, and Australia's second biggest.

"It's not a gamble at all, because this site and the size of it and the variety and quality of the tenants surpasses anything else that's in SA," he said.

Other stores at the homemaker centre include Radio Rentals, JB Hi-Fi, Truscotts Casual Living, Harris Scarfe, Forty Winks, Classic Timber Furniture and Workout World.

[skyliner]

A very interesting article. To add to this I have noticed a distinct lack of reference to SA in the AFR in the last few months concerning reports about insolvencies and bankruptcies, economic gloom and doom, mining woes. One of the worst hit areas instead is the Gold Coast.

SA - STATE ON THE MOVE

[Wayno]

A very interesting article. To add to this I have noticed a distinct lack of reference to SA in the AFR in the last few months concerning reports about insolvencies and bankruptcies, economic gloom and doom, mining woes. One of the worst hit areas instead is the Gold Coast.

by golly, i do believe you are correct!

[skyliner]

I should add to my last post that Woolongong is in a SERIOUSLY precarious position - southern suburbs 20% youth unemployment and general unemployment almost total (according to residents) due to steel collapse. Much hidden unemployment - ie 1 hr. a week WITH work very common. - soif we think of moaning and groaniong about Adelaide, give them a thought guys. Still a sensational place here IMO.

SA - STATE ON THE MOVE

[bm7500]

This one has progressed significantly over the last few weeks with signage starting to go up and final external painting & panneling being completed.

The design differes slightly from the initial renders as the complex appears to be more inward facing, but the facade visible from Main North Road will still be colourful and interesting.

Road works that add slip & turning lanes into and out of the copmplex are almost complete and the new set of traffic lights will likeley be switched on within the next few weeks (one of the few negative aspects about this development, with another set of lights only 100m down the road).

So far Harvey Norman, Casual Living, Truscott's, JB HiFi, Inside Furniture, Harris Scarfe, Forty Winks, Classic Timber Furniture and Workout World have been confirmed as tennants with some advertising on TV as having relocation sales in preparation of their move to the new site.

I'm looking forward to this one opening in what will likley be little over a month from now.

[Prince George]

The design differes slightly from the initial renders as the complex appears to be more inward facing, but the facade visible from Main North Road will still be colourful and interesting.

So, we weren't promised much, and we got even less. Well, fiddle-dee-dee.

[Benski81]

I love that that aread is finally being developed with a decent project, and it's coming along nicely now complementing Bianco's new HQ there. My only issue, and it really is the only issue, with this development is that we now have yet another set of lights on main north road. With my job i have to travel out north a fair bit and coming back into the city along main north road in the evening is so frustrating because every five seconds you have to stop at a set of lights and yet it's supposed to be the MAIN road heading north out of the city. Has anyone else ever noticed this?!

Probably not the right forum to raise this issue but i feel better for putting it out there (leans back from keyboard and sighs with relief).

[crawf]

The design differes slightly from the initial renders as the complex appears to be more inward facing, but the facade visible from Main North Road will still be colourful and interesting.

So, we weren't promised much, and we got even less. Well, fiddle-dee-dee.

The last time I went up Main North Road, it was looking pretty good. Massive improvement compared to what that site used to look like.

[joshzxzx]

Does anyone have any pics on this???

You guys are teasing me with all this talk, because I cant picture what your saying as I live on the other side of town...

[Wilfy 2007]

Gerry Harvey gives SA a glowing endorsement in this article ahead of the HQ opening.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 82,00.html

Retail king backs our `thriving' South Australia

MILLIONAIRE Gerry Harvey has endorsed South Australia as a "thriving metropolis", ahead of the opening of a $170 million homemaker centre at Gepps Cross.

Mr Harvey, who is part-owner of the centre, claimed to be Australia's largest, insists he's not taking a gamble, despite the economic doom and gloom.

"The interesting thing about SA is that it's one of the strongest states of the lot at the moment, Mr Harvey told The Advertiser.

"If you look back over the last 20 years SA has never been in this position. SA was a sleepy hollow, but it's now become a much more thriving metropolis.

"It's alive and moving and our sales in SA are holding up nearly better than anywhere else in Australia. SA is very strong."

The successful entrepreneur was rated seventh in this year's BRW executive rich list, amassing a personal fortune of $723.7 million, while running a company with a market value of $2.8 billion.

But the economic downturn has taken its toll on company profits and earlier this year he closed five of the company's office supply stores and a furniture store in Sydney.

The Enfield store will also close, but only because of the opening of the nearby Gepps Cross homemaker centre in June, with Harvey Norman maintaining its nine-store presence in SA.

Mr Harvey backed an Access Economics assessment SA would defy "the sharpest deceleration Australia's economy has ever seen" to become one of the nation's strongest states over the next three years.

He pointed to mining, defence and the latest unemployment figures as the factors setting the state apart.

While SA's unemployment rate worsened last week, it was not by as much as other states, climbing to 5.9 per cent – up from 5.7 per cent.

SA is also defying the national rise in bankruptcies, one of only two states to record a drop in bankruptcies and insolvencies in the first three months of the year.

"With Roxby Downs, that gives SA a lot of optimism," Mr Harvey said.

"A combination of all the things is making SA business very strong.

"In the last three or four years the really strong places have been WA and North Queensland. But SA is holding up equally as well as those two places in this climate."

The 16 1/2ha homemaker centre will employ an estimated 700 people on the former abattoir site at Main North Rd, Gepps Cross.

It will be twice the size of the Mile End Homemaker Centre, with 48 tenancies and two cafes.

Mr Harvey, who visited the site weeks ago, describes it as one of Australia's "hottest sites".

At 12,000sq m, his superstore will be the largest Harvey Norman store in SA, and Australia's second biggest.

"It's not a gamble at all, because this site and the size of it and the variety and quality of the tenants surpasses anything else that's in SA," he said.

Other stores at the homemaker centre include Radio Rentals, JB Hi-Fi, Truscotts Casual Living, Harris Scarfe, Forty Winks, Classic Timber Furniture and Workout World.

Hi,
Good to see Gerry Harvey getting behind South Australia.
One of the reasons why I have been promoting improvements for the South Australian Railway system since January 2008 is because I believe that the state has potential but it takes people like Gerry Harvey who is getting behind the state to make everybody understand that there is huge potential.
Regards,

[Norman]

I love that that aread is finally being developed with a decent project, and it's coming along nicely now complementing Bianco's new HQ there. My only issue, and it really is the only issue, with this development is that we now have yet another set of lights on main north road. With my job i have to travel out north a fair bit and coming back into the city along main north road in the evening is so frustrating because every five seconds you have to stop at a set of lights and yet it's supposed to be the MAIN road heading north out of the city. Has anyone else ever noticed this?!

Probably not the right forum to raise this issue but i feel better for putting it out there (leans back from keyboard and sighs with relief).

That's why the Northern Expressway is being built.

[crawf]

And the future Northern Connector