Fortius Funds Management has laid out plans to revitalise a Sydney homemaker centre with a new street-front food and beverage development and fresh tenancies. A new food and lifestyle destination for the heart of Sydney’s North Shore will soon be arriving at Home HQ, Artarmon.
The intention is to reposition Artarmon’s 10-year-old Home HQ as a genuine lifestyle shopping destination for Sydney’s North Shore. Fortius purchased Home HQ in May 2018 for $140 million from Blackstone and has been quick to execute its vision.
The group has released plans for The Front Yard – a 686m2, purpose-built food and beverage precinct, with the potential for multiple concepts to program the space for events and other community activities.
Already benefiting from a huge catchment of customers – including patrons from the Royal North Shore Hospital, the surrounding commercial and residential population and the existing Home HQ foot traffic – the addition of The Front Yard will enable Home HQ, Artarmon to attract a much broader audience.
CBRE’s Leif Olson and Oxford Agency’s Steffan Ippolito, have been appointed to run the Expression of Interest campaign for The Front Yard with development is set to launch early this year.
Olson said Artarmon was the Alexandria of the north and, due to an undersupply, several major food and beverage players were scouting for suitable venues in the area.
“With the current lack of quality food and beverage opportunities on the lower North Shore, The Front Yard by Home HQ represents an opportunity for experienced operators to tap into a highly affluent market, which is crying out for a good quality offering,” Olson said.
Large format retail centre owners are capitalising on the convenience and abundant parking offered, increasing visitation and dwell time. The Front Yard by Home HQ is one such development taking advantage of this trend.
Ippolito said The Front Yard had the potential to become the focal point of Home HQ and a drawcard for customers within the immediate catchment and further afield, given the abundance of outdoor space available, kids play area and 450 car bays.
The plans have been unveiled on the heels of Fortius leasing space at the centre to two new tenants, DeRUCCI and Unique Car Wash.
