Wednesday, 25 September, 2013
Domain Commercial
National brands anchor exciting new bulky goods homemaker centre. The travelators are in, the ceilings are fixed, lighting installed and the vast terrazzo floors are being finished. The high-profile Maroochydore Homemaker Centre, anchored by Harvey Norman, Domayne and Joyce Maybe, is on track for a November 2012 opening.
National retail services company McKenzie Hall had been appointed to manage the new centre on Maroochy Boulevard. The centre will include 16 other national brand retail showrooms totalling more than 32,785sq m. The project will also feature 5000sq m of premium first floor commercial space, a Good Life gym, 900 undercover parking spaces and lift access. It is strategically positioned in the heart of the maturing Maroochy Boulevard, the gateway to the Maroochydore CBD from the Sunshine Motorway.
This precinct is already home to showpiece auto dealerships for Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, and Mazda and is the site for the exciting new Emporio mixed-use development. McKenzie Hall is the only specialist company in Australia focussed solely on provision of retail property services to the bulky goods homemaker centre sector. It is led by executive directors Tony Draper and Dale McDermid.
Mr McDermid was previously a director and shareholder of Byvan, the largest independent shopping centre manager in the country at the time.
“We are delighted to be further expanding our management and leasing portfolio in Queensland,” Mr McDermid said on Monday. “Maroochydore Homemaker Centre is a unique new development for the Sunshine Coast in a vibrant, fast-growing location and is set to quickly establish itself as the premier retail bulky goods homemaker destination in the region.” Mr McDermid said the key selling points of the Homemaker Centre were that it was a large integrated development and only one on the Coast to be fully air-conditioned- including the mall. Two cafes are planned to make it a complete shopping precinct.
“From a marketing point of view we want the mix of stores to be as wide as possible,” he said. “So it will get the usage you would expect in a Queensland showroom development.” McKenzie Hall is taking the centre from construction into transition and then opening. Included will be looking after individual fit-outs of stores and an on-site marketing team putting together a significant opening event. Mr McDermid said a project such as Maroochydore takes a lot of planning, in this case a five –year horizon from development application to getting it open. McKenzie Hall will have a team based on site. “It’s a niche within the retail shopping environment. We are designing a product for a particular shopping need,” he said. “As the economic environment has become more challenging, good retailers are looking to upgrade the level of service. It’s about the experience, not just the shopping.”
Tags: homemaker, maroochy boulevard, retail boost, shopping mecca, showroom
Posted in Press Clippings
