Erina's boom continues

A consortium led by Phillip Brand is getting ready to develop a high quality four-storey commercial complex with around 3,000 sqm of lettable space on 200 The Entrance Road. Plans are presently before Council with Mr Brand saying that construction should start sometime in 2010. At the same time Mr Brand has plans to redevelop a site on the corner of Ilya Avenue and the entrance to the Platinum/Fountain Corporate complex which takes in Jack’s Tavern.

To be known as 'Icon' the development will include an underground car park on what is now a Council-owned car park which will add 111 car parking spaces and create a Civic Place with gardens and seating. Icon will be a five-storey commercial/retail development that has been designed to further enhance the surrounding high quality developments. As part of the development it is proposed to reconfigure the recreational area, adding two new tennis courts and facilities for the playing field. This project will allow for additional car spaces beneath the tennis courts.

Meanwhile, with Dan Murphy’s liquor store soon opening in Fountain Plaza – adding to the already congested car parking facilities, the Brand consortium will build a new multi-deck car park behind Fountain Corporate to accommodate 129 cars. It will be of prefabricated construction and is to be built over the 2009 Christmas-New Year holiday break.

Twenty years of continuing growth
It is now twenty-two years since the opening of Erina Fair, an event that totally changed retail on the Central Coast and one which was to bring Gosford CBD to its knees. But there was more to the opening of Erina Fair than one might think.

Firstly, in 1984 the State Government rezoned the Green Point and Erina areas, creating 4,200 residential blocks. Earlier, in 1981 2,000 lots were zoned residential in the Kincumber area. The rezoning also allowed for retirement villages to be developed in and around Erina Fair – the first of which was Tarragal Glen which opened in 1988 and has led to the development of Wood Glen Retirement Village and Pine Needles Lifestyle Estate.

At that time the population growth on the Central Coast was running at 4% each year – the highest in the State and the new residential areas around Erina were contributing to that growth. This brought new opportunities for homeware businesses, and in 1983 Harvey Norman relocated from West Gosford to a new store on The Entrance Road in what continues to be known as The Harvey Norman Complex. Business was so successful that they purchased six acres of with a frontage to Karalta Lane and built a Super Store which opened in 1988 and has been extended over the years.

The opening of Erina Fair and Harvey Norman along with a fast growing population saw a critical mass of homeware retailers opening in the Erina precinct, attracting a wider market across the whole Central Coast. Today more than twenty homeware and home renovation businesses operate in the Erina Precinct.

In 1991, Phil Brand and Craig Gibbens developed Fountain Plaza on the corner of The Entrance Road and Karalta Road. This retail/commercial development very quickly attracted a nucleus of professions and banking services with the ANZ, nab and Commonwealth banks setting up retail and business banking services (Westpac had moved into the Harvey Norman Complex earlier). The tenancy mix at Fountain Plaza made it a highly successful development and gave commercial and professional businesses an opportunity to work in modern, pleasant and professional surroundings.

Fountain Plaza created a demand which led to the Brand–Gibbens consortium, developing Erina Plaza in 1995, Fountain Corporate in 2001 and more recently the Norwest-like development Platinum. These developments have attracted major businesses that include Telstra Country Wide’s regional office, Star 104.5FM Central Coast studios, Sterland Computing, Sensis, Bowen’s Health Services and Sue Mann’s Nursing Service. In addition, Westpac relocated to Fountain Plaza in 2007 with a new retail branch and Regional Business Banking office – investing around $3 million, and the nab is presently making a large investment refurbishing their retail and business banking space.

There are thirteen accounting firms, five lawyers, ten finance brokers, six financial planners and other professionals including property valuers, architects, consulting engineers, and IT services all currently located in Erina. In addition, Erina has attracted a growing number of medical services that include medical centres, specialists, radiography, physiotherapy, chiropractic and podiatrists.

The Stevens Group has also been active in the development of Erina in recent years, developing the complex that takes in the Caltex Service Station, Red Rooster, Singo’s Butchery and Fortunity, as well as the adjacent Rivers development. More recently Stevens Group developed Highpoint at the intersection of Terrigal Drive and The Entrance Road. Highpoint is also a Norwest-type development – a high quality building that is the head office of Stevens Group and ACS Integrated Service Provider, plus other professionals that include consulting engineers and architects.

Demand for quality commercial space
Platinum was completed in mid-2007 and Highpoint a year later. Both are almost fully occupied which has shown that there was always a demand for quality space. Commenting on the property market in Erina, Brad Rogers of LJH Commercial said, “The big players are attracted to Erina because of the supportive infrastructure as it still has the capacity to develop commercial office space, retail and bulky retail, so the future for Erina is still very positive.

“Prices being paid for A-grade commercial office space ranges from $270 to $400/sqm and even in this flat market there is continuing enquiry from existing businesses looking to take the next step by expanding or buying their own property within the Erina market. Just this month we have seen two owner-occupiers move into Erina and a month ago Aussie Home Loans and Compass Housing have established in the market,” said Mr Rogers.

Back Send us your comments