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Will are you sure it will be 360 shops?, because Marion already has around 320 shops.

Btw if anyone wanted to know Westfield Marion already has 119,000 of retail space (according to the Westfield site).

http://westfield.com/corporate/retailer/au/marion.html

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crawf wrote:Will are you sure it will be 360 shops?, because Marion already has around 320 shops.

Btw if anyone wanted to know Westfield Marion already has 119,000 of retail space (according to the Westfield site).

http://westfield.com/corporate/retailer/au/marion.html

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I don't think the stalls in the middle of the malls or the shops in the food court are counted as shops.

Actually if they were included, it would make the total 499 (according to the westfield site)

I didn't realise there were quite that many shops at Marion.

I would imagine that the new supermarket will most likely be an extension to the current K-mart, thereby forming a coles supercentre, although that might now depend on who buys Coles Group?

It certainly sound like the centre will be pretty big once complete, and I am amazed that "little old Adelaide" as some people still think of it, will be the site of the 2nd largest shopping centre in Australia. I would have expected that honour to go to Sydney or Melbourne. Just goes to show Adelaide is changing for the better and starting to become less anti-development.

I would just like to repeat though my frustration at Westfields lack of care when it comes to building design and aesthetics. Marion is already an ugly centre, especially from outside, and with the construction of 3 and 4 storey carparks I can only see this getting even worse.

I hope I am wrong and that they find a way to improve the look of the centre so it can actually be a development Adelaide could be proud of and that we can show off to our interstate and overseas visitors as an example of great modern architecture, rather than just a whole load of ugly shops!

I know Westfield is capable of this, because the renders on their website for some of their other centres currently being built / rebuilt look sensational!

If you're interested have a look at the Westfield London and Westfield Doncaster sections on their site (London looks unbelievably spectacular, but Doncaster at least looks ok).

Take a look at the "flythrough" on the London section, well worth a visit! And if they can do something like this in London, why on earth not in Australia where they started the business?

The outside of Westfield West Lakes doesn't look to bad

I agree now that they have painted it (except for one wall which will be done soon) it is not too bad (although still looks very very basic and un-welcoming compared to Westfield London!)

Westfield London is a brand new multi million dollar development in Europes financial capital!

You cant compare anything in Adelaide or even Australia to London.

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Marion to become bigger and better
ANNA VLACH

April 14, 2007 12:15am
Article from: The Advertiser

WESTFIELD Marion will rival the city as a shopping destination if a redevelopment worth more than $200 million goes ahead, Marion Mayor Felicity-Ann Lewis said yesterday.

The upgrade would make it the second largest shopping centre in Australia with a floorspace of more than 150,000sq m, behind Melbourne's Chadstone Shopping Centre which will cover 170,000sq m after its latest makeover.

Planned additions to Westfield Marion include 90 shops, a first-floor supermarket, a two-level mall connecting that supermarket to the existing David Jones department store and 900 carparking spaces.

The redevelopment will create about 700 construction jobs and close to 750 retail positions.

Ms Lewis said the expansion would make Westfield Marion the preferred destination for shoppers from across the state during its "honeymoon period".

While it may never overshadow the city's popularity in the long-term, it was a "safer" place to shop because it was contained, she said.

"I don't think it will gazump the city," she said. "Adelaide will always be the cultural heart because it has museums and galleries ... but it has seedy bits as well."

Westfield Marion was the "safer alternative" because it had customer-friendly security staff and information kiosks, Ms Lewis said.

"Who would you go up to in the city?" she said.

Lord Mayor Michael Harbison said the city would welcome the extra competition Westfield Marion's redevelopment would generate, adding Rundle Mall had an information centre where shoppers could go for help and uniformed security staff during busy periods.

Adelaide City Council would also be continuing to encourage investment in the mall, he said. There had been a "major upgrade of City Cross" and improvements to the Myer Centre were also expected.

Marion Council is due to make a decision regarding the $200 million-plus makeover mid-year.

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Great to hear that the Myer Centre is going to get a bit of a makeover. Theres a few other CBD retail developments proposed such as transforming the GPO into a exclusive retail plaza and demolishing the existing Renaissance Arcade at Rundle Mall and building a 2 level or more shopping plaza (including cinemas) and a Apartment Tower (20+ levels high).

When I think about it this planned extension of Marion and other retail developments in the suburbs will not really impact the CBD.

crawf wrote:You cant compare anything in Adelaide or even Australia to London.

why not?

Yes exactly, why not?

I realise your point of course is that Adelaide does not have the popluation of London, but that really should only mean (if anythings) that our shopping centres should not be as big as those in London.

It doesn't have to mean they can't be as NICE as them though, does it?

Actually if you want to know as much as you think marion doesn't look as nice as the one in london (the one they are building) marion sorta dwarfs that one if you pay attention to the site...Mind you, you would expect the originating country to have the bigger malls.

Waste of fuel for me seaford is closest to me although that isn't large as large can be it has the city's largest cheap as chips it has a foodland, woolworths, Big W which is one of the largest in the state so i go there but if necassery i go to colonnades and if desperate i go to southgate plaza and if i have to go to marion due to myers well i can wait till june when they kick haris scarfes out of colonnades and myers goes back there (although they won't have their 3 stories anymore it will just be the ground floor). So the city is out of the picture for me anyway.

Are you sure Myer will only occupy the ground floor? That would be the first Myer I've ever heard of to only have 1 level.

It is very wierd because it was only last year that major building work was done to convert the old Harris Scarfe (previously Myer) into seperate stores, but I would have thought now that it's going to be Myer again they would re-convert it back to at least 2 levels surely?

That's what I thought! You would also ewxpect the originating country to have the better malls!

crawf wrote:----
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Great to hear that the Myer Centre is going to get a bit of a makeover. Theres a few other CBD retail developments proposed such as transforming the GPO into a exclusive retail plaza and demolishing the existing Renaissance Arcade at Rundle Mall and building a 2 level or more shopping plaza (including cinemas) and a Apartment Tower (20+ levels high).

When I think about it this planned extension of Marion and other retail developments in the suburbs will not really impact the CBD.

I especially like the idea of replacing the tired and outdated Renaissance arcade. That sounds like a great way to make shopping in the city a bit more attractive and I am sure there is room there for quite a significant development.

I would like to see it looking something a bit like the upgraded Melbourne Central (but on a smaller scale obviously). It could even maybe go further than that and be modelled on some of the high-end Gold Coast shopping centres, containing only super high quality boutiques in a completely decadent and luxurious environment.

(Or they could just shove up some concrete pre-cast walls, paint them white and let any old shops occupy the resulting space, in true Adelaide tradition!)