By ALENA HIGGINS
IT’S been on the cards for years, with a string of boarded-up shops near the corner of Palmerin and Fitzroy Streets signaling the intent.
And now plans to expand Rose City Shoppingworld have finally been put in motion, with Queensland property developer McConaghy Group lodging a development application with Southern Downs Regional Council (SDRC) last week for a $40 million redevelopment of the mall.
The augmentation of the centre, located on Palmerin Street in the heart of Warwick, is forecast to create 200 permanent local jobs and turn the Rose City into a regional retail hub, attracting shoppers from the Southwest Southern Downs, Northern NSW and as far west as Goondiwindi.
Managing director Robert McConaghy said the redevelopment was designed to enhance the main street by creating a new entry at the corner of Palmerin and Fitzroy Streets.
“We are very proud of this proposal because it adds to the CBD instead of diluting it, with more parking, better street activation and pedestrian access to the centre and expansion of the major retailers around Palmerin Street,” Mr McConaghy said.
“This new enhanced shopping centre will reduce the need for retail dollars to be spent outside Warwick and act as a drawcard for residents of neighbouring towns to visit Warwick and spend their money here.”
Mr McConaghy said the architects had gone to great pains to ensure the style was in sympathy with the heritage style of the CBD, just like the existing building.
Key features of the new development include a bigger food court, a new and extended Woolworths supermarket, a new full-sized Coles supermarket, more speciality stores, an enhanced parents’ room, and a new entry ramp to the basement off Fitzroy Street, leading to over 160 new car parks.
Other features include a new travelator and a new lift with access to the expanded undercover parking, and a new landscaped arbour adjacent to Leslie Park.
Construction of the centre is expected to take more than a year and employ up to 300 construction workers.
But a spokesman for the McConaghys said he was unsure when the first sod of soil would be turned, saying it “all depends upon the DA approval process”.
The number of new retail tenancies is also unknown.
Westpac Warwick bank manager Bevan Henningson confirmed the branch, currently on the corner of Palmerin and Fitzroy streets, will be moving into the new shopping complex once it has been approved.
Once complete, the upgraded centre will create a 25 per cent increase in employment compared to the old facility, with approximately 100 new direct retail jobs and a further 100 jobs in areas such as cleaning, maintenance and trades.
Separate to this application, McConaghy’s has received approval from the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection to restore and refurbish the part of Plumbs Chambers found at 84 Fitzroy Street at a cost of $1 million, which will commence “imminently”.
The neighbouring building at 82 Fitzroy Street, also part of Plumbs Chambers, was demolished on Monday to make way for an expanded loading bay.
McConaghy Group has been a corporate citizen of Warwick since 1984 when it opened the original town shopping centre as Woolworths and a few specialty shops.
In 1998, McConaghy transformed the centre to its current size and layout.
More on the demolishment of 82 Fitzroy Street on page 5.
