Cairns Central Shopping Centre is in Cairns City, Cairns, Far North

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. It is Cairns' biggest

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 colle ...

. The centre was opened in late 1997 and is the second multi-story shopping centre in northern Queensland. The shopping centre is built over the

Cairns railway station Cairns railway station is a railway station in Cairns City, Queensland, Australia, serving the city of Cairns. The stations is the terminus of the North Coast line from Brisbane and the terminus for the Tablelands railway line to the Atherto ...

, which is incorporated with the centre. Pedestrian access to the station is through the car park on the bottom floor, or a pedestrian walkway on the second floor. Construction of the shopping centre was delayed temporarily due to damage suffered from Tropical Cyclone Justin in early 1997. Cairns Central currently contains 5 anchor stores including: * 1 Floor

Myer Myer (stylised MYER, sometimes known as Myers) is an Australian mid-range to upscale department store chain. It trades in all Australian states and one of Australia's two self-governing territories. Myer retails a broad range of products ...

department Store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

. *

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...

discount department store. The store temporarily pulled out of the centre in April 2021 to swap locations with Kmart. The store opened in November 2021. *

Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inc ...

discount department store. It originally opened in the former Bi-Lo supermarket until it was moved into the former

space in 2021. * Coles Supermarket. * Woolworths Supermarket. Opened on December 15, 2020 as part of a recent redevelopment and took over the second-floor of Myer. *

Event Cinemas Greater Union Organisation Pty Ltd, trading as Event Cinemas, Greater Union, GU Film House, Moonlight Cinema and Birch Carroll & Coyle (BCC Cinemas), is the largest movie exhibitor in Australia and New Zealand, with over 140 cinema complexes c ...

Cinema complex. The centre is jointly owned by

Lend Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

, owners of other Australian shopping centres such as Sunshine Plaza and Canelands Central and The

Westfield Group Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio ...

. Cairns Central as of June 2008 recorded more than $353 million in sales and has centre visits of 10 million a year.

Awards

The centre has, for the second time running, been named among the state's top shopping centres. Cairns Central on 13 February 2009 was named runner-up in the 2008 Queensland Shopping Centre of the Year Awards in the Super/Major regional centres exceeding .

Ownership court case

In August 2007 it was revealed joint owners Westfield and Australian Prime Property Fund were arguing about Westfield's insistence on managing the centre itself. APPF said it wanted current managers Lend Lease to stay in charge and Westfield took the matter to the New South Wales Supreme Court. A spokesman for APPF confirmed the matter had been referred for mediation, expected to start about 18 February 2008. Westfield bought their 50% share in 2006 from Coles Myer and put itself forward as the centre's manager but this was rejected by Lend Lease. An attempt by Westfield in the New South Wales Supreme Court on Monday 16 June to force a public auction of the shopping centre – valued at $407 million – was rejected as was an alternative bid to appoint receivers to sell the centre. Lend Lease's contract over Cairns Central ran out on 30 June 2008 and was, and still is, uncertain who will manage the centre. Tenants of the centre have revealed claims that rent since Westfield bought the 50% share in 2006 rent had gone up substantially and that locally run shops were being forced out in favour of large national and international retailers. As of October 2011, Lendlease purchased Westfield's 50% share in Cairns Central, which leaves Lendlease as the primary owner of the shopping centre via Lendlease's APPF Commercial Investment arm.

Public transport

Cairns Central is accessible by bus and is one of the major bus Interchanges on the Sunbus Cairns network. This was previously located on McLeod Street at the northern CBD entrance, but was moved in 2017 to Spence Street for departures and the Cairns Railway Station for arrivals, respectively. The taxi interchange is located at the main CBD entrance opposite Shields Street. Although not a suburban railway station as Cairns does not have a rail network, the

is located at the back of the centre near Bunda Street. It is the northern terminus for the

Spirit of Queensland The Spirit of Queensland is a Queensland Rail long distance passenger rail service. It is operated by a diesel powered Tilt Train that runs five times a week on the North Coast line between Brisbane and Cairns, a distance of 1,681 kilometres ...

Long-distance rail service to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

and the starting station to start the

Kuranda Scenic Railway The Kuranda Scenic Railway is a tourist railway service that operates along the heritage-listed Cairns-to-Kuranda railway line. Constructed in 1891, the line runs from Cairns, Queensland, over the Great Dividing Range to the town of Kuranda o ...

and

The Savannahlander The Savannahlander is an Australian passenger train service (primarily serving tourists) that operates in Far North Queensland. It travels on the Tablelands railway line and the Etheridge railway line from the coastal city of Cairns to For ...

$60m Redevelopment Project

On 18 July 2019,

Lendlease Lendlease is a globally integrated real estate company that creates and invests in communities, workplaces, retail, and infrastructure projects, headquartered in Barangaroo, New South Wales, Australia. History Founding The company was estab ...

announced their $60 million redevelopment project for Cairns Central. The project includes a new Woolworths and food market, parking improvements, and other facilities. Construction of this redevelopment went on until its completion on December 15, 2020.

Gallery

Image:Cairns Central Air.jpg, Cairns Central from the air facing south, circa 2006 Image:Station Dusk.JPG, Cairns railway station at dusk Image:North End.JPG, Cairns Central in the evening

References

External links

Cairns Central Website

Sunbus Website

Cairns Central Plaza Hotel website - opposite shopping centre, cnr McLeod and Aplin Streets

Lend Lease - Cairns Central , Retail Shopping Centre
{{Shopping centres in Queensland Shopping centres in Queensland Shopping malls established in 1997 Cairns City, Queensland