Elara Village Neighbourhood Centre

https://www.shoppingcentrenews.com.au/shopping-centre-news/industry-news/stockland-elara-village-neighbourhood-centre-breaks-ground/

Presentation

Good afternoon everyone, I would like to thank you for joining us here today during these unpresented times to turn the first sod on the Elara Village Neighbourhood Centre.

 I begin today by acknowledging the Darug tribe as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we are meeting today. I would also like to pay my respects to their Elders past and present and acknowledge the Aboriginal people for their custodianship on this land.

I would also like to particularly acknowledge the Treasurer, the Hon. Dominic Perrottet.

It is testament to the Treasurer’s sound economic policies and solid leadership that have given us the confidence to proceed with this development during these unprecedented times we find ourselves in, and we are very grateful for your time today. With the impact of Covid-19 this has created significant economic uncertainty, however the team at Eildon have the confidence that quality projects such as this one will be successful, especially given the long term demand for it.

I also want to recognise Ms Prue Car MP, Member for Londonderry, and Cr Brad Bunting of the Blacktown City Council.

Projects such as this one are complex, from vision to design to completion, and it is the collaborative effort of many layers of government, from Blacktown City Council, to local member, Ms Car, that help turn a vison into reality.

I would also like to welcome our anchor tenant, Coles. It is great to have Frances Przybylski from Coles here with us today in recognition of the top shelf centre that will service this community.

And finally, I would like to recognise Richard Rhydderch, Stockland General Manager – NSW Development and his team at Stockland.

Whilst we are the owners of this Neighbourhood centre and are delivering this great asset, it would not be possible without the foresight and the spectacular job that Stockland have done in delivering the masterplaned community that has generated the demand for a centre such as this one.

We are so pleased for your support and willingness to share this vision with us – we’re looking forward to working with you over many successful years to ensure this centre meets the needs of our growing community.

I would like to say how proud we are to be standing here today celebrating the commencement of work on the Elara Village Neighbourhood Centre.

We acquired this site with a vision to create a modern and vibrant town centre with the flexibility to meet the continually evolving needs of the community.

While we’re currently standing on a patch of dirt today, in some 12 months’ time this will be transformed into an approximately 8,200 sqm centre that will service the demands of the community and also create hundreds of much needed local jobs for the region during this time of uncertainty, during the construction phase, but also when the centre commences operations, drawing in a main trade area population that is projected to grow from 11,300 residents by opening to 31,500 residents in just 10 years.

This patch of dirt will be transformed into a $60 million state of the art, sustainable neighbourhood centre that not only offers a full-line Coles supermarket and 14 speciality shops, but also a range of much-needed services including a medical centre, childcare and gymnasium.

In addition, we will also be developing a community centre to meet the needs of the local community which will be dedicated to the Blacktown City Council upon completion.

Finally, I would like to thank our team at Eildon Funds Management and our joint-venture partners, including Chris Condon, that will be instrumental in delivering the centre, including our Project Managers, Arthur & Roy from Artro who are committed and enthusiastic about delivering this project.