The Myer Centre is located between the Queen Street Mall and Elizabeth Street in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is a nine-floor shopping complex which includes Queensland's largest Myer department store, and is open to the public seven days a week. The Myer Centre has the added benefit of being the hub for the Brisbane CBD. Most buses originate and end near or under the Myer Centre. The Myer Centre Car Park is also one of the largest car parks in the heart of the city with easy access to everything in the city.
Stores
The Myer Centre is home to approximately 180 stores.
Layout
Escalators in the central area of The Myer Centre
Due to the hilly landscape of the Brisbane CBD, The Myer Centre's floors are labelled differently to most shopping centres. Whereas many shopping centres label their floors purely by number (level 1, level 2, etc.) or its vertical position (lower level, upper level, etc.), The Myer Centre is laid out in the following fashion (lowest level to highest):
Level S (named after the former Sizzler restaurant): now a small parking area
Level T (Lower Target level, one lift only): Target
Level A (Albert Street entrance): Queen Street bus station, Target, food court
Level E (Elizabeth Street entrance): Coles Central, food court, specialty stores
Level Q (Queen Street entrance): Myer (Beauty Floor), specialty stores
Level 1 (first floor above any street level): Myer (Women's Floor), Lincraft, specialty stores
Level 2 (second floor above street levels): Myer (Men's Floor), Daiso, Lincraft, Best & Less, Medicare, Oxfam Shop, ABC Shop, Skinnys
Level 3 (third floor above street levels): Myer (Homewares and Children's Floor) (accessed from within store only), Event Cinemas
Level 4 (fourth floor above street levels): Myer (Home Entertainment Floor) (accessed from within store only)
Level R (two lifts only): Centre Management
History
The Myer Centre shopping complex opened for trading on 28 March 1988[1] (just in time for Brisbane's World Expo '88) and Myer relocated its Brisbane department store into it.
Previously, the original Brisbane Myer store extended from Queen Street to Adelaide Street, with entrances at both ends. That old location was on the opposite side of Queen Street to its current location in The Myer Centre. The old store was split in half by Burnett Lane and the arcade through today's Queen Adelaide Building used to be the main thoroughfare through the old Myer store. Myer purchased that original location from the Allan and Stark department store. The Allan and Stark Building are heritage listed. Originally, one of the entrances opened onto the busy Queen Street, before it was pedestrianised to become the Queen Street Mall in 1982.
The construction project by REMM Group Ltd went for 18 months, and required excavation of 375,000 cubic metres of earth, to a depth of 22 metres (eight metres below the Brisbane River level), which was the largest urban excavation in Australia at that time.
Previously located on the site was four historic buildings of the Hotel Carlton (1885), New York Hotel (1860), Newspaper House, from which the Brisbane Telegraph was first published, and the Barry and Roberts department store. Using facadism, the facades of those buildings have been retained and restored.
In November 1998 the Myer Centre was purchased by Gandel Retail Trust for $371 million, making it the second largest property transaction in Australia's history at that time.
The area where the cinemas now are was originally used as a fun park called 'Tops'. It was closed down and demolished in 2000, with the fun park parts sold off. The fun park comprised various small shops, an amusement centre, a swing ship, a dragon train, and a Ferris wheel.[5] When the theme park was operating, screams of excitement and terror could be heard from the patrons of both the swing ship and the dragon train. Prior to 2000, the cinemas were originally situated in the area now occupied by Target on one level only, and operated by Hoyts.[6]
In the past, the centre's tenants included fairly substantial nightclubs. In the early 1990s, the basement area (subsequently occupied by Sizzler) hosted "The Funkyard", a nightspot with an emphasis on the "alternative" guitar rock of the era. The Funkyard hosted live gigs; for example, the U.S. band Dark Carnival played there, with Ron Asheton of the Stooges on guitar. Another former tenant of the centre which played host to live music was the "Metropolis" nightclub, adjacent to the bus tunnel on Level "A", near the place now occupied by glamour photography shop "Starshots". Irish "shoegaze" band My Bloody Valentine played at Metropolis in 1991, supported by Straitjacket Fits (from New Zealand) and the Underground Lovers.
In 2005 the centre was purchased by Colonial First State Property group as part of the purchase of Gandels Centres.[7]
The centre was valued at A$732 million in 2012 when ISPT purchased a half stake.
On 8 March 2013, the mall was the scene of a siege.
Transport
Car
The Myer Centre has Brisbane CBD's largest car park with 1,450 undercover car park bays and on-site staff available 24 hours a day. The car park uses Park Assist technology to guide drivers to an available bay and help find their car if the driver can't locate it on their return.
Bus
Queen Street Bus Station on the Albert Street level of the complex.
Train
The Myer Centre is also within easy walking distance of three train stations:
Central Station
South Brisbane Station
Roma Street Station.
Date retrieved: 5 November 2017 08:20 UTC
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