The District Docklands (previously known as Harbour Town) is an indoor/outdoor

shopping centre A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

in the suburb of Docklands in the inner-west of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

History

The District Docklands opened on 21 October 2008 as Harbour Town. Following the

Harbour Town Harbour Town is a shopping centre concept that incorporates multiple factory outlets in one centre. As of February 2021, there are two locations owned and operated under the Harbour Town brand: Biggera Waters, on Queensland's Gold Coast, and ...

concept, it was owned by

ING Real Estate The ING Group ( nl, ING Groep) is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, wholesale bankin ...

. Harbour Town featured a ferris wheel known as Southern Star which opened on 20 December 2008 but closed on 30 January 2009 due to structural defects. It reopened on 23 December 2013 and was rebranded as

Melbourne Star The Melbourne Star (previously Southern Star) is a 120 metre tall observation wheel in the Waterfront City precinct in the Docklands area of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. Described by its operators as "the Southern Hemi ...

. American retailer

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation (doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costco i ...

opened its first Australian store at the centre on 17 August 2009. Since its opening in 2008, Harbour Town struggled to attract visitors and shoppers to the centre due to the close proximity of being located near two DFO outlets and located on the edge of the CBD. In December 2014, real estate investment and advisory group AsheMorgan purchased the centre from

. A $150 million facelift and rebranding to The District Docklands was announced in August 2017. Swedish retail giant H&M signed on as the first retail anchor tenant and is joined by a number of other popular national youth fashion and lifestyle brands. These changes mark the establishment of

's latest shopping, entertainment and fresh food precinct. Construction of an eight-cinema

Hoyts The Hoyts Group of companies in Australia and New Zealand includes Hoyts Cinemas and Val Morgan. Hoyts operates more than 450 cinema screens and 55,000 seats, making it Australia's second largest movie exhibitor after Event Hospita ...

and an entertainment concept by Funlab was started in May 2017, and opened in mid-2018. The fresh food marketplace called The District Market, anchored by Woolworths and complemented by a variety of international and local retailers, which formed the final stage of the redevelopment, was completed in mid-2019. The centre has already undergone an extensive aesthetic upgrade, including the installation of all-weather roofing.

Tenants

The District Docklands has of floor space, comprising 80 stores over two levels serviced by 2,818 car spaces. Major retailers in the centre include

, Woolworths,

, H&M, Uniqlo and

Dan Murphy's Dan Murphy's is an Australian liquor store owned by Endeavour Group, with over 250 stores across the country. The business was founded in 1952 by winemaker Daniel Francis Murphy. Dan Murphy's competes principally with Coles Group brands First C ...

Transport

The District Docklands is the terminal stop for

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

routes 35, 70 and 86, running along Docklands Drive to the south of the centre.

Bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

routes 220, 941 and 942 also serve the shopping centre, running along Footscray Road to the east. The District Docklands also has a multi level car park with 2,818 spaces.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:District Docklands Shopping centres in Melbourne Shopping malls established in 2008 2008 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA)