The District Docklands (previously known as Harbour Town) is an indoor/outdoor

shopping centre A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...

in the suburb of Docklands in the inner-west of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

History

The District Docklands opened on 21 October 2008 as Harbour Town. Following the

Harbour Town The Harbour Town Premium Outlet shopping centre's are the only, outdoor, outlet shopping centres in Australia. The Harbour Town centre's on the Gold Coast and in Adelaide incorporate multiple factory outlets into a single shopping destination. ...

concept, it was owned by ING Real Estate. Harbour Town featured a ferris wheel known as Southern Star which opened on 20 December 2008 but closed on 30 January 2009 due to structural defects. It reopened on 23 December 2013 and was rebranded as Melbourne Star. American retailer

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box warehouse club retail stores. As of 2021, Costco is the third-largest retailer in the world, and as of August 2024, Cos ...

opened its first Australian store at the centre on 17 August 2009. Since its opening in 2008, Harbour Town struggled to attract visitors and shoppers to the centre due to the close proximity of being located near two DFO outlets and located on the edge of the CBD. In December 2014, real estate investment and advisory group AsheMorgan purchased the centre from ING Real Estate. A $150 million facelift and rebranding to The District Docklands was announced in August 2017. Swedish retail giant H&M signed on as the first retail anchor tenant and is joined by a number of other popular national youth fashion and lifestyle brands. These changes mark the establishment of

's latest shopping, entertainment and fresh food precinct. Construction of an eight-cinema

Hoyts The HOYTS Group of companies in Australia and New Zealand includes HOYTS Cinemas, a cinema chain, and Val Morgan, which sells advertising on cinema screens and digital billboards. The company was established by dentist Arthur Russell in Melbo ...

and an entertainment concept by Funlab was started in May 2017, and opened in mid-2018. The fresh food marketplace called The District Market, anchored by Woolworths and complemented by a variety of international and local retailers, which formed the final stage of the redevelopment, was completed in mid-2019. The centre has already undergone an extensive aesthetic upgrade, including the installation of all-weather roofing.

Tenants

The District Docklands has of floor space, comprising 80 stores over two levels serviced by 2,818 car spaces. Major retailers in the centre include Woolworths,

, H&M,

Uniqlo ( ; ) is a Japanese casual wear designer and retailer. The company is a subsidiary of Fast Retailing, Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. Clare Waight Keller is the creative director. History Men's Shop OS was founded in Ube, Yamaguchi. It was rebrand ...

and

Dan Murphy's Dan Murphy's is an Australian liquor store owned by Endeavour Group, with 272 current stores across Australia. The business was founded in 1952 by winemaker Daniel Francis Murphy. Dan Murphy's competes principally with Coles Group brands First ...

Transport

The District Docklands is the terminal stop for

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

routes 35, 70 and 86, running along Docklands Drive to the south of the centre.

Bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

routes 220, 941 and 942 also serve the shopping centre, running along Footscray Road to the east. The District Docklands also has a multi level car park with 2,818 spaces.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:District Docklands Shopping centres in Melbourne Shopping malls established in 2008 2008 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA) Postmodern architecture in Australia