Westfield Warringah Mall (previously known as Warringah Mall; colloquially known as the Mall) is a large indoor/outdoor shopping centre in the suburb of Brookvale in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney.
History
20th Century
1950s: purchase of land and development plans In 1957 L.J. Hooker purchased land which had previously been part of William Frederick Parker’s Brookvale Farm and also the eight acres owned by the Malcolm Family. Brookvale House was located on the site of the eight acres owned by the Malcom family and was occupied by Jane Try (née Malcolm) until 1957 when it was sold as part of the Warringah Mall development. The idea of a major shopping centre in Brookvale faced skepticism amongst the general public. The first application development for Warringah Mall was refused at a Warringah Council meeting on 9 November 1959 as some councilors feared that Brookvale would become a ‘ghost town’.
New plans for Warringah Mall were submitted to Warringah Council and was subsequently approved on 20 November 1959. Hooker-Rex Pty Ltd, on behalf of the Kanadah Pty Ltd were given town planning approval in to develop a regional shopping centre on the site.
The new proposal included a two-storey department store with a total floor area of 80,000 square feet, a 15,000 square feet chain store, 10 shops of 500 square feet each and 15 shops of 1000 square feet each all grouped around a pedestrian mall linked with covered walkways.
Hammerson Group purchased the site from L.J. Hooker in 1961 and acquired a further 4ha to allow for further expansion.
1960s: opening Warringah Mall opened on 4 April 1963 and was developed by Hammerson Group at a cost of £6 million. It was the second largest Australian shopping centre at the time with Chadstone Shopping Centre being the largest.
Warringah Mall opened with around 50 including a two-level (later three-level) David Jones department store with a supermarket on the ground level, a Grace Bros Homemakers Store, Nock & Kirby hardware store, a Franklins supermarket and a Woolworths supermarket.Hammerson proposes Aust listing Sydney Morning Herald 22 June 1982
During the early 60s saw many well-known musicians perform in the central courtyard area. In the green area outside the Grace Bros Homemakers store featured a circus with pony rides. The intersection of Condamine Street and Pittwater Road featured a mini golf course.
In August 1969 Warringah Mall purchased a clock from the Sydney City Council for $40. The clock was previously located in Martin Place during WW2 when the GPO Clock tower had to be taken down. After the war the clock tower was re-installed and the Martin Place clock later became redundant. Warringah Mall management spent $350 to fix the clock and placed it in a garden courtyard.
1970s: redevelopment, Woolworths fire and Hoyts opening The first major development occurred in 1972 with the Grace Bros store upgraded from a homemakers store to a three-level department store. The new three-level Grace Bros department store and the addition of a second level with 50 speciality stores were opened in 1973. When the new Grace Bros store opened it had a full cafeteria/restaurant on the top floor and an outside staircase which was used for fashion shows.
On 20 November 1973, a fire broke out in the original Woolworths store at around 3:42pm. About 30 shoppers inside the store were all able evacuate. The fire was believed to have started in the roof store's third level plant room. The blaze caused significant damage to the Woolworths building and two women who were employees of the store were trapped inside the store's pay office. Due to the size of the blaze and the fear of civilians trapped. Multiple code red messages were sent through to Headquarters with the arrival of the first crew from Dee Why and then brigades from Narrabeen, Crows Nest and Mosman and later additional crews from the Headquarters, The Rocks, and Neutral Bay to tackle the blaze. Despite the blaze threatening to spread to nearby stores and eventually the whole shopping mall, only 60% of the Woolworths building was on fire. Several firefighters desperately attempted to locate and rescue the two women who had been trapped inside the store. The rescue attempts had been unsuccessful due to the heat from the flames and the structure itself collapsing. By 5:49pm the Woolworths building was utterly destroyed and left to smoldering ruins. Three firefighters and a civilian were taken to Manly Hospital due to injuries caused by the fire, but all were later discharged. Altogether 14 officers, 46 firefighters using 3 pumpers, 1 set of ladders and 7 internal hydrants tackled the destructive blaze. The search for the two women trapped inside the store resumed after the blaze was over and unfortunately both did not survive. The first body found at 6:40pm and the second body found two hours later.
On 13 December 1979 the Hoyts Twin Cinema complex opened with the screening of The Muppet Movie and Alien.
1980s: BMX Bandits film location, Target opening, Australian Bicentenary and Hoyts refurbishment Warringah Mall was the film location in the 1983 movie BMX Bandits. The film starred a 15-year-old Nicole Kidman in one of her first major screen roles. In the scenes filmed at Warringah Mall showcases two young BMX experts, P.J. (Angelo D'Angelo) and Goose (James Lugton) getting chased by the bank robbers forcing them to ride through the mall and perform stunts on their BMX bikes. They then crash into a line of supermarket trolleys being collected by Judy (Nicole Kidman) who was working as a trolley collector.
In the mid-1980s, a Target store was opened along with 20 specialty stores.
To commemorate the Australian Bicentenary, Warringah Shire Council commissioned local sculptor Victor Cusack to create a bronze sculpture central fountain for the mall. The sculpture on the fountain is known as "Pacific Family" or "Dolphin Fountain" and was unveiled by Deputy Shire President Julie Sutton on 23 November 1988. The unveiling was followed by performances from Tommy Tycho’s band, Julie Anthony and Barry Crocker.
The Hoyts Twin Cinemas closed on 10 July 1989 for refurbishment which included the addition of five new screens and was scheduled to reopen by Christmas 1989. However, due to delays in construction the new Hoyts seven-screen multiplex opened on the 13 January 1990 with the premiere attraction Postcards from the Edge.
1990s: sale and redevelopment In September 1994, Warringah Mall was included in the sale of Hammerson's Australian property portfolio. The AMP Society, Bankers Trust Australia and Suncorp Group were shortlisted to battle it out for the purchase of Warringah Mall. AMP Society purchased Warringah Mall for $544 million in October 1994.50 years of real estate experience AMP Capital
On 29 May 1996 it was revealed that AMP Society has proposed $139 million three stage redevelopments of Warringah Mall. It was designed by prominent US-based architects Altoon & Porter alongside local architects Roger J. Thrum & Associates. The redevelopment proposal was to be developed around the large centre court with the open layout retained. A new air-conditioned two-level mall anchored by a newly relocated Woolworths supermarket built on the existing mall to connect to the centre court was proposed. The redevelopment also included a discount department store, a second full-line supermarket and six mini-majors and a further 133 speciality stores would be added which would boost the total number of stores to 273. The redevelopment planned to bring the total floor area from 97,300m² to 125,800m². Work on the redevelopment was expected to begin in late 1996 with completion by the first half of 1999.
In August 1996 Harvey Norman closed its store and relocated to its newly built 12,000m² superstore in Balgowlah. This is the same move that happened months earlier with the store at Westfield Miranda closed and relocated to the newly built Caringbah Super Centre in Taren Point.
In November 1996 the $139 million three stage redevelopment was approved by Warringah Shire Council and the works began in early 1997.
The first stage of the redevelopment was completed in March 1998 and included the opening of the northern wing - a new air-conditioned two-level mall anchored by a Big W discount department store on level one, a new Woolworths supermarket and liquor store on the ground level and the total number of stores to 230.
Stage two of the redevelopment was officially opened in December 1999 and included a new southern wing with 60 new speciality stores, a new Coles supermarket on the ground level, a 700-seat Arena Cove food court alongside McDonald's, Rebel Sport and Surf Dive ‘n' Ski on level one, a new entertainment precinct on level two which included expanded Hoyts cinema complex, Galaxy World arcade, Warringah Mall Library, a community centre, Arena Terrace and Peninsula Room and as well as a new multi-storey carpark on Old Pittwater Road. This redevelopment brought the total floor area from 97,300m² to 125,800m².
21st Century
2000s The final works of the $139 million redevelopment were completed in 2000. The old areas had a makeover which was to introduce a quality homewares precinct with the opening of Wheel & Barrow and Dick Smith Powerhouse.
In June 2001 the Franklins supermarket was offered for sale and closed down before the end of that year. In that same year German global discount supermarket Aldi launched in Australia and was planning to open in the space vacated by Franklins. However, due to disputes between rival supermarkets Coles and Woolworths it was rejected by AMP Capital. In 2003 Aldi opened its store outside the centre on the corner of Cross and Green Streets.
On 21 March 2003, Westfield Group purchased a $200 million stake in the AMP Shopping Centre Trust (ART). On 20 May 2003, Westfield Trust has launched a $1.4 billion cash bid to the AMP Shopping Centre Trust (ART) to gain interests in another six shopping centres including Warringah Mall. By 22 July 2003, the ACCC decided not to intervene in the takeover offer and Westfield Group had acquired 25% ownership interest in Warringah Mall with AMP Capital retaining management control and 75% interest.
In early 2006 JB Hi-Fi opened its store on level one.
2010s: ownership changes On 25 October 2012, AMP Capital, Westfield Group and Westfield Retail Trust have completed a $1.75 billion shopping centre transaction. As part of the transaction, Westfield Group had acquired $344 million worth of assets from AMP Capital which included the purchase of a 12.5% interest in Warringah Mall.
As a result of the purchase, AMP Capital and Westfield Group have swapped interests in seven centres, including Warringah Mall which became a 50/50 joint venture between the two companies. As part of the deal, centre management transferred from AMP to Westfield with the centre rebranded to Westfield Warringah Mall.Westfield Group, Westfield Retail Trust and AMP Capital Restructure Ownership Interests in Portfolio of Seven Australian Centres Westfield Group 25 October 2012
On 30 June 2014, Westfield Group was restructured into two new independent companies known as Scentre Group and Westfield Corporation. Scentre Group manages and owns the company's interests in Australia and New Zealand. As a result of the restructure Scentre Group has taken over the interest of Westfield Warringah Mall from the Westfield Group.
2015–2016 Redevelopment In January 2015, in preparation for the $310 million redevelopment up to ten stores were closed and relocated.Shops close, move including Medibank Private ahead of Westfield Warringah Mall makeover The Daily Telegraph 14 January 2015 Around that time Myer began its refurbishment, shrinking from three levels to two. The store continued to trade during the refurbishment until February 2016 when it temporarily closed to allow for works to continue.