Concern raised over shopping centre rents
Newman Boulevard shopping centre manager Davyd Hooper says he is concerned by how a proposed new retail complex will be built during the economic downturn and questions whether it will have an unfair advantage setting rents.
His comments follow BHP Billiton's announcement earlier this month it would fund the $30 million construction cost for a second shopping centre, to be built in Newman by 2017.
The miner then plans to hand the centre's management over to not-for-profit group St Bartholomew's House.
St Bart's will aim to attract top retailers to the centre and use its profits to support community projects and groups in Newman.
But Mr Hooper said times had been tough for retailers over the past year and he wondered whether the new centre could unfairly set discounted rents for tenants because it did not have to recover the cost of construction.
"There are not many details yet available about the shopping centre, so it is quite concerning," he said.
News the centre would be built comes as jobs have been slashed across the Pilbara in the wake of falling iron ore prices.
It also comes as Tredways Newman shoe shop, Chicken Treat and a coffee shop were among recent stores to close in the existing Boulevard centre.
Minister for Regional Development Terry Redman said he took a long-term view there would be room for both shopping centres as Newman continued to grow towards a population of 15,000.
While acknowledging his group had flexibility when setting rents, St Bart's director Bevan Sturgess-Smith also said the aim was to complement the Boulevard centre rather than compete with it.
"Because BHP is effectively funding the shopping centre, St Bart's doesn't have a cost of capital it has to recover so we can be a little bit flexible in … the levels of rent to make sure we get the right tenants," he said.
"But by no means do we have an ambition to undercut the other shopping centre that is already there.
"We believe two centres can co-exist with the population that is in the town - hopefully we just provide a different range of stores."
