Construction on Tipalea Partners’ brand new $40 million Glebe Hill Village retail centre has officially reached completion, delivering the first new neighbourhood shopping centre in metropolitan Hobart in more than a decade.
The brand-new Coles-anchored centre celebrated its grand opening with a Family Fun Day event on Saturday 6 August 2022, featuring pop-up workshops, activities, and entertainment for the whole family.
The 5,900m2 Glebe Hill Village shopping centre delivers a new standard of convenience retail and consists of a full-line supermarket and 18 specialty shops in an air-conditioned mall with 260 car spaces in an expansive, completely on-grade car park.
“We are thrilled to achieve completion and open Glebe Hill Village – delivering vital new retail infrastructure to Howrah. It has raised the bar for neighbourhood shopping in Hobart, bringing high-quality retail combined with variety and convenience to the surrounding community, and it’s been wonderful to see the immense support from local residents,” said Scott Spanton, CEO of Tipalea Partners.
“The project also delivered a significant boost to local employment at a critical time, generating more than 1,000 jobs throughout COVID-19 and into the recovery phase – including more than 300 on-going jobs within Glebe Hill Village’s retailers,” he said.
Anchored by Coles, Glebe Hill Village also includes 18 other specialty shops and services
Clarence City Council Mayor, Alderman Doug Chipman, said the long-awaited Glebe Hill Shopping Centre was a significant asset for the local community and the city as a whole.
“Not only will this new village provide a vital boost to the local economy, providing job and business opportunities, it will also allow the greater community – from Clarence Plains to Opossum Bay – to enjoy more convenient access to daily necessities, without a lengthy detour, and will build on the fabulous sense of community that is already so palpable at Glebe Hill,” Chipman said.
“The village has been designed to benefit the wider community in a range of ways and will provide a significant benefit for the growing area of Clarence Plains, which we predict will grow to a population of more than 20,000 people and become a satellite city in its own right in another 10 years’ time.
“This development will help ensure we have more infrastructure and services in place to meet the needs of this booming area,” he said.
Glebe Hill Village has been designed to benefit the wider community and will provide a significant benefit for the growing area of Clarence Plains
Located at the intersection of the South Arm Highway and Pass Road in Howrah, Glebe Hill Village was constructed by Tasmanian contractors Fairbrother over a 15-month period.
Paul Ransley, General Manager, Fairbrother said, “We are proud to deliver Glebe Hill Village ahead of schedule and this outstanding result is testimony to our ongoing collaboration and partnership with Tipalea. Many obstacles were overcome during the construction process with the biggest challenges faced including COVID-19 restrictions along with labour shortages, issues with supply chain and delayed materials delivery. I am proud of how the Fairbrother team overcame these to deliver Hobart’s newest retail centre more than two weeks earlier than planned.”
Ransley noted that the centre’s innovative smart technologies added an extra layer of intricacy to the build with the installation of a full solar array and smart-metering systems.
According to Fairbrother an average of 80 workers were on-site during the 15-month construction timeframe, increasing to 120 when tenancies commenced with an overall 500 workers and consultants inducted to the site.
Scott Spanton says the art installations have transformed the arrival and departure of the centre into a lively and welcoming experience. Image: José Navarro
With a strong focus on public art, Glebe Hill Village also incorporates the works of several Tasmanian artists beneath the carpark canopies and within the centre itself. Local artists Allan Mansel, Tricky Walsh and Tom O’Hern, along with Sydney-based Lara Merrett, were commissioned to transform the retail centre into an engaging and creative space, displaying colourful stories of placemaking and environment.
“We are delighted to have installed artworks at Glebe Hill Village from the incredible home-grown talent that Tasmania has to offer. Establishing lasting benefits for the local community has been our top priority and engaging with local artists to deliver a vibrant experience is part of our vision in creating a community-orientated shopping centre,” said Spanton.
The Glebe Hill Village app is also operational – representing the first retail centre app in Tasmania and adding to the overall customer experience. The app allows users to pre-order food and book appointments for services in the centre as well as view key data in real-time, such as how busy the centre is along with environmental performance information.
Glebe Hill Village has already been hailed the most-connected and sustainable retail centre in Tasmania with a suite of innovative Smart-Tech features in addition to the app, including free wireless phone charging and Wi-Fi, real-time air quality monitoring, smart bathrooms that monitor water usage, and EV chargers.
Tipalea Partners has been investing in Tasmania for more than 15 years and Glebe Hill Village represents the third Tasmanian project undertaken by the group.
