Box Hill Central

Location	Box Hill, Victoria, Australia
Coordinates	37°49′10″S 145°7′24″E / 37.81944°S 145.12333°E / -37.81944; 145.12333
Opening date	1975 (North) 1987 (South)
Developer	Vicinity Centres
Management	Vicinity Centres
Owner	Vicinity Centres (100%)
No. of stores and services	177 North: 72 South: 105
No. of anchor tenants	3 North: 1 South: 2
Total retail floor area	37,971 m2 (408,720 sq ft) North: 14,259 m2 (153,480 sq ft) South: 23,712 m2 (255,230 sq ft)
No. of floors	3
Parking	2, 417 North: 901 South: 1, 516
Public transit access	Box Hill station (embedded)
Website	www.boxhillcentral.com.au

Box Hill Central is a regional shopping centre complex located in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Box Hill, Australia, made up of two separate centres. It is approximately 16 kilometres (10 mi) east of the Melbourne central business district, and both shopping centres are located within the Box Hill shopping precinct and Whitehorse City Council's Principal Activity Centre.

History

Box Hill Central – North

Box Hill Central – North was originally constructed in the early 1970s. It opened in 1975 as a three-level regional shopping centre called Whitehorse Plaza. It housed anchor tenants such as Coles, Kmart, and Venture, larger tenants like Sussans, Williams The Shoeman, Priceline, Lincraft, and Medicare, along with other assorted retailers, eateries, and services.

Due to a lack of tenants, it closed in 2000 before undergoing a complete refurbishment. All tenancies within the centre were demolished, the development's layout and car parks were reconfigured, and there was major refurbishment of external and internal facades. Named Whitehorse City before opening, the centre was reopened on 1 July 2003 by Centro Properties as Centro Whitehorse, a two-level regional shopping centre, featuring anchor tenants Coles and Best & Less.

In 2007, Centro Whitehorse was rebranded to Centro Box Hill North and partially redeveloped, with Best & Less closing down and being replaced by a Harris Scarfe location.

In 2013, it was rebranded to Box Hill Central - North as a result of an organisation-wide rebranding of all centres owned by Federation Limited.

On 2 February 2020, Harris Scarfe closed its store at Box Hill, as part of its restructure and reduction in store locations. The location was leased to Dimmeys. The Coles supermarket closed in August 2022 and relocated to Box Hill Central - South.^[1]

Box Hill Central – South

Box Hill Central – South was originally constructed in the early 1980s, when the old Box Hill railway station and level crossing was removed, and Market and Main Streets were closed to traffic.^[2] Box Hill Central opened in 1987, as a single-level regional shopping centre. It housed anchor tenants Target and Woolworths.^{[citation needed]}

The shopping centre was reconstructed in 1998 and in 2000 and acquired by Centro Properties, who renamed it to Centro Box Hill South, though many still referred to it as Box Hill Central.^{[citation needed]}

In 2010, the shopping centre was again refurbished, with Target being replaced by Big W, and Woolworths being renovated and reopened.^{[citation needed]}

In 2013, it was again rebranded as Box Hill Central – South as a result of an organisation-wide rebranding of all centres owned by Federation Limited.^{[citation needed]}

The shopping centre has a large indoor fresh food market located along the eastern edge of the complex. The original market opened in 1895 and was consolidated into the shopping centre when it was developed.^{[citation needed]}

Along with Big W in Broadmeadows Central, Big W in Box Hill Central closed in January 2021.^[3] A new Coles supermarket opened in a section of the old Big W in August 2022.^[1]

Tenants

Currently, the two shopping centres have a combined gross let-able area of 37,995 m² (408,970 sq ft). This is made up of two anchor tenants,Coles and Woolworths, and over 190 other retailers, eateries, and service providers. Other retailers in Box Hill Central include Priceline Pharmacy, Daiso and Dimmeys. The shopping centres also have a combined 2,537 parking spaces, as well as approximately 100 office suites in office towers. Previous tenants of Box Hill Central include Big W, Kmart, Kmart Food, Target, Venture, Harris Scarfe, EB Games, Sanity and Best & Less.

The Box Hill region is known for its Hong Kong Chinese population, with smaller groups of mainland Chinese, Taiwanese and Vietnamese. This is reflected in the produce in food markets, medicinal herb retailers and clothing shops. In addition to European market offerings, the market area has some shops focusing on traditional Asian foods.

Box Hill Central (North and South) has an annual turnover in excess of A$150 million.

Transport

Box Hill Central was built above Box Hill station and the entrance is contained inside the shopping centre. The complex also has a major bus interchange, with tram route 109 terminating nearby on Whitehorse Road. It passes through the inner eastern suburbs en route to Port Melbourne via the Melbourne central business district. There are a few bus stops situated around both the shopping centres and they are both situated in Myki zone 2. Box Hill Central has seven levels of undercover car parking. The shopping centre has bicycle racks located at most major entrances as well as an on-site taxi rank.