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Westfield Bondi Junction
Westfield Bondi Junction is a large shopping centre in the suburb of Bondi Junction in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney.
Westfield Bondi Junction is built on land that was originally by occupied Grace Bros, Carousel Centre and Bondi Junction Plaza.[citation needed]
The oldest of these was a Grace Bros store opened in 1934 on the site of the former Hoyts Coronet picture theatre on Oxford Street. In 1957, the Grace Bros building was replaced by a large building designed by Morrow and Gordon, and with parking for 120 cars; the budget was £500,000, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. In the early 1970s, the store's striking Modernist exterior was documented by prominent Sydney photographer Max Dupain. Grace Bros dominated shopping in the region until Bondi Junction Plaza was completed in 1976.[citation needed]
In the early 1970s, a shopping centre known as The Carousel was opened.[citation needed] This three-level centre featured a Safeway supermarket (later Woolworths), around 50 stores and notably for the time, a food court. The centre was characterised by a large carousel in the middle atrium of the ground floor (which gave the centre its name).
With the promise of the Eastern Suburbs railway line, a larger shopping centre was built by AMP and the Uniting Church (who owned part of the site).[citation needed] This shopping centre, called Bondi Junction Plaza opened in 1976 and included a David Jones department store. In 1979, the first of two commercial office towers ("Plaza Tower I") was opened above the site. The second ("Plaza Tower II"), larger tower, opened in 1985. Both these towers are over 80 m in height. The construction of the shopping centre was a watershed, as Australia had no other commercial shopping projects of such scale during the 1970s.[citation needed]
The Public Transport Commission originally intended to construct a shopping complex around Bondi Junction railway station and link this to the Bondi Junction Plaza development by means of a tunnel. The tunnel was opposed by the local Chamber of Commerce and subsequently dropped together with the entire commercial development in 1976 when the railway was reassessed in a cost-cutting exercise.
In 1994, Westfield Group bought a 50% stake in Bondi Junction Plaza from AMP and renamed it Westfield Bondi Junction Plaza. They began planning a redevelopment of the shopping centre and the Grace Brothers site opposite. The first Development Application was lodged with the two councils in 1996 due to the site being located on the border of Waverley and Woollahra councils. The councils were unable to reach a joint conclusion between themselves and Westfield on the development. While they agreed in principle to the development, they variously objected to the scale of the project. In 1997, the Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning, Craig Knowles, approved the initial concept for a redeveloped shopping centre which was then dragged on into 1998 before the NSW government assumed planning control of the project. It was subsequently approved with minor modification. Westfield did not begin development immediately, in view of the then imminent 2000 Olympics.
In 2000, Westfield bought AMP's remaining stake in Bondi Junction Plaza and also purchased the adjacent Carousel centre (which by the late 1980s, had already been linked in with the Plaza shopping centre, by a series of internal walkways). Plans were amended to incorporate this centre in the redevelopment, further delaying the project.[citation needed]
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Westfield Bondi Junction
Westfield Bondi Junction is a large shopping centre in the suburb of Bondi Junction in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney.
Westfield Bondi Junction is built on land that was originally by occupied Grace Bros, Carousel Centre and Bondi Junction Plaza.[citation needed]
The oldest of these was a Grace Bros store opened in 1934 on the site of the former Hoyts Coronet picture theatre on Oxford Street. In 1957, the Grace Bros building was replaced by a large building designed by Morrow and Gordon, and with parking for 120 cars; the budget was £500,000, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. In the early 1970s, the store's striking Modernist exterior was documented by prominent Sydney photographer Max Dupain. Grace Bros dominated shopping in the region until Bondi Junction Plaza was completed in 1976.[citation needed]
In the early 1970s, a shopping centre known as The Carousel was opened.[citation needed] This three-level centre featured a Safeway supermarket (later Woolworths), around 50 stores and notably for the time, a food court. The centre was characterised by a large carousel in the middle atrium of the ground floor (which gave the centre its name).
With the promise of the Eastern Suburbs railway line, a larger shopping centre was built by AMP and the Uniting Church (who owned part of the site).[citation needed] This shopping centre, called Bondi Junction Plaza opened in 1976 and included a David Jones department store. In 1979, the first of two commercial office towers ("Plaza Tower I") was opened above the site. The second ("Plaza Tower II"), larger tower, opened in 1985. Both these towers are over 80 m in height. The construction of the shopping centre was a watershed, as Australia had no other commercial shopping projects of such scale during the 1970s.[citation needed]
The Public Transport Commission originally intended to construct a shopping complex around Bondi Junction railway station and link this to the Bondi Junction Plaza development by means of a tunnel. The tunnel was opposed by the local Chamber of Commerce and subsequently dropped together with the entire commercial development in 1976 when the railway was reassessed in a cost-cutting exercise.
In 1994, Westfield Group bought a 50% stake in Bondi Junction Plaza from AMP and renamed it Westfield Bondi Junction Plaza. They began planning a redevelopment of the shopping centre and the Grace Brothers site opposite. The first Development Application was lodged with the two councils in 1996 due to the site being located on the border of Waverley and Woollahra councils. The councils were unable to reach a joint conclusion between themselves and Westfield on the development. While they agreed in principle to the development, they variously objected to the scale of the project. In 1997, the Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning, Craig Knowles, approved the initial concept for a redeveloped shopping centre which was then dragged on into 1998 before the NSW government assumed planning control of the project. It was subsequently approved with minor modification. Westfield did not begin development immediately, in view of the then imminent 2000 Olympics.
In 2000, Westfield bought AMP's remaining stake in Bondi Junction Plaza and also purchased the adjacent Carousel centre (which by the late 1980s, had already been linked in with the Plaza shopping centre, by a series of internal walkways). Plans were amended to incorporate this centre in the redevelopment, further delaying the project.[citation needed]
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