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A $180 million retail and lifestyle destination in Sydney's Hills District has been unveiled, promising to transform the local area.
The development is part of a $1 billion masterplan in the heart of The Hills.
The project aims to bring together Sydney's best providores, mini majors and globally relevant brands across fashion and food, to home and lifestyle.
The re-development of Castle Towers, one of Australia's largest shopping centres, will see the retail destination directly connected to the Metro North West Line by a purpose-built pedestrian tunnel.
At the grand opening yesterday 37 retailers opened their doors as part of Stage One of the development.
The centre is underpinned by an affluent trade area currently experiencing significant residential and infrastructure development.
QIC Global Real Estate managing director Michael O'Brien says the Hills District is a key strategic growth corridor for Sydney, with the total area spend predicted to increase from $6.4 billion to $21.1 billion over the next 10 years.
"As stewards of this important piece of community infrastructure for almost 30 years, Castle Towers is not only one of Australia's top 10 performing super regional malls, but a town centre which locals can proudly call their own and feel is a key part of the fabric of the Hills community," says O'Brien.
"Sitting in the heart of one of Sydney's most sought-after residential catchments, it was a strategic priority for us to work closely with Sydney Metro to deliver on our vision to transform Castle Towers into a destination with multi-modal transport options for the 18 million customers who visit each year."
At the heart of the transformation is a contemporary fresh marketplace and casual food court, bringing global food chains together with the best-in-class street food operators.
Alongside a revamped Coles Supermarket, new brands added to the retail mix include Banana Blossom, Gewurzhaus Herb and Spice Merchant, Délisse French Café, Jim's Malaysian, Makani Ramen Noodle House, Yatai Ozeki, Adanos Grill, Ms Dumpling and Juiced Life.
A collection of new lifestyle stores and concept stores also opened yesterday including Price Attack, Gro Urban Oasis, What's Cooking Home, Flower Train, Tribe Lifestyle and Indulge Nails and Spa.
A number of existing retailers have relocated to the new ground floor hub including local favourites Costi's Fresh Seafood, Shepherd's Artisan Bakehouse and Rainbow Organic, as well as major chains Chemist Warehouse, JB Hi-Fi, Sony, The Reject Shop, McDonald's, KFC and Oporto.
In early 2020 CHOP Butchery, Miracle Supermarket, Wheel & Barrow, Yogurberry and Starbucks will join the centre as new retail additions.
Artist Oliver Watts was tapped to paint a series of Melaleuca paperback forest paintings for the centre, and act as an immersive experience in the centre under a symbolic tree canopy applied to the over-scaled hoods of the centre.
O'Brien says he is proud that QIC's investment in this project has created around 1400 jobs during construction and more than 200 hospitality and retail jobs now it's complete.
"As we get closer to marking almost three decades of ownership of Castle Towers, QIC continues to invest heavily to redefine the role of a next generation town centre that thelocal community can continue to enjoy visiting to meet their shopping, dining and entertainment needs," says O'Brien.
"We will continue to reinvest in and reshape Castle Towers so look forward with great excitement to working closely with our good friends at council in making the centre an exemplar for productive Australian retail."
The redevelopment of Castle Towers commenced in March 2018 with further works to be undertaken in stages from early 2020, as part of QICGRE's masterplan for the town centre.
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