Property Advert of the Week: St Andrews Tower, Raleigh Park (1994)

Below is an advertisement for St Andrews Tower which is part of the Raleigh Park complex at Kensington.

Source: Mirvac & Westfield. 1994. "St Andrews at Raleigh Park" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, May 12, 48.

1989: The first non-stop London to Sydney flight

Just over a week ago (November 15), Qantas conducted a non-stop flight from London to Sydney using a 787 Dreamliner jet. The flight which carried a few dozen passengers was for research purposes as Qantas aims towards providing direct flights from the east coast of Australia to London and New York by 2022.

This flight was thirty years after the very first non-stop London to Sydney flight which was also undertaken by Qantas using a Boeing 747-400 jet. The 18 012km flight took 20 hours, 9 minutes and 55 seconds, arriving in Sydney on August 17 1989.

With the recent test flight involving the 787, it took 19 hours and 19 minutes to traverse the route. A new record.

Below is coverage from The Daily Telegraph from August 18 1989.

Property Advert of the Week: Chequers Burwood (1994)

In 1994, $380 000 bought you a home in the Chequers complex at Burwood. 

Source: Mirvac Projects. 1994. "Chequers" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, May 12: 48.

EVOLUTION OF WESTFIELD MIRANDA: The fourth expansion (2014)

This is our last entry in the evolution of Westfield Miranda (Miranda Fair). It has been a great and exciting journey of its evolution.

This month happens to be five years since the last of the expansions over its 55-year period occurred.

The timing was perfect. The centre was turning 50. The perfect way to celebrate a half-century of serving the Sutherland Shire.

But how did it get there?

The last expansion was in 1992, which made it the first in 22 years. It also meant that the first decade of the 21st century was the only decade where there was no major expansion or upgrade of the complex.

Meanwhile, the Sutherland Shire continued to grow in population, but disposable incomes were on the rise fuelling demand for high-end retailers.

In 2009, expansion plans were approved by Sutherland Council, but construction did not commence until 2013.

This resulted in the current centre featuring 470 retailers (up 100).

Expansion works concentrated on the western half of the complex, with the entrance moved forward to the Kingsway, and there was a reconfiguration of the layout, though some of the original areas from 1964 were retained. The office building was demolished, and there was controversy over the demolition of the famous revolving star atop the building. The Moreton Bay fig at the Kingsway Entrance was incorporated into the expanded complex.

Myer shrank its space from four floors to three. This allowed Woolworths to relocate into the space. on level 2 Woolworths anchored a new fresh food hall that is more upmarket than the fresh food hall located at the eastern end of the centre (Anchored by Coles, who replaced Franklins).

Mini majors led by international clothing brands, including Uniqulo and Zara moved in.

A major feature of the expansion was the construction of an entertainment precinct which included a new Event Cinemas complex (relocated from the basement at the Kiora Road end) and restaurants along the Kingsway. The cinemas opened in 2015.

The former cinema site was converted into a Skyzone, a trampoline park catering to kids. Despite its popularity, it is due to close.

Model (and local) Cheyenne Tozzi officially opened the redeveloped centre on November 27, 2014. Below is a Nine News Report from November 2014 reporting on Stage 2.

Below are photos I have taken of the centre as it is today. Photos were taken by yours truly.

Restaurant Precinct

Kingsway Entrance (including the Moreton Bay fig tree)

That concludes the series on the evolution of Westfield Miranda (Miranda Fair). Below are links to the previous entries in the series.

1962
1964 (Part 1)
1964 (Part 2)
1969
1971 (Part 1)
1971 (Part 2)
1984-1985
1992

Property Advert of the Week: The Allen Estate, Leichhardt

Below is an advertisement for town houses and apartments in The Allen Estate at Francis Street, Leichhardt.

Source: Ray White Real Estate. 1995. "The Allen Estate, Leichhardt" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, June 24: 92.

EVOLUTION OF WESTFIELD MIRANDA: More Expansion (1992)

The 1990's bought another expansion for Westfield Miranda which was its largest expansion to date. This was completed in 1992.

Westfield had spent around two decades purchasing sites in the block bounded by the Kingsway, Kiora Road, Urunga Parade and Jackson Avenue including shops, offices, Miranda Police Station and the Miranda Congregational Church. St Lukes Anglican Church refused offers to sell, though they did sell a small portion of the site.

For expansion to proceed (and gain support of locals and council), Westfield purchased sites within Miranda to relocate the police station (Cnr Wilcock Street and Kiora Road) and Miranda Congregational Church (Cnr Kariumbla and Kiora Street). Westfield also funded the construction of the new buildings for Miranda Congregational Church.

Source: Stark, N. 1991. "Huge Westfield complex set for Miranda". The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, May 16: 2.

Expansion plans were officially unveiled in 1991. The expanded centre would contain 370 retailers, up from around 160 retailers..

New retailers included David Jones which meant that Miranda would once again have two major department stores on the one site. BigW was now forced to compete with Target and did an upgrade of their store.

Grace Bros did an upgrade of their existing store.

Greater Union would occupy an eight screen entertainment complex and was joined by a new food court and restaurants.

Above: Advertisement to promote the opening of Greater Union at Miranda in 1992.

The expansion was completed in stages with the full expansion officially opened to shoppers on October 1, 1992. The crowds flocked in their hundreds of thousands. Yours truely as a young child does remember going on that first weekend and yes it was full.

Source: Davis, G & Habermann, L. 1992. "Shopping crowds flock to Miranda". The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, October 8: 2. 

Below are some advertisements to promote the Westfield Expansion as advertised in The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader on various dates in 1992.

Below is an advertisement for Country Road which promoted itself as a Department Store.

Westfield produced its own special advertisement for the opening of David Jones in August 1992.

Finally is an advertisement to promote Tilt, which was a video game and entertainment arcade complex. With the rise of video gaming during the 1990's, it would not see out the decade. It occupied the space now occupied by Aldi and The Reject Shop.

Property Advert of the Week: The Apartments of Phillips Landing, Concord (1995)

Below is an advertisement for The Apartments of Phillips Landing at Concord from June 1995..

Source: Stanton Hillier Parker. 1995. "The Apartments of Phillips Landing" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, June 24: 92.

Remember this? Free Rail Travel if you presented your drivers licence (1990)

I will return to my series on the evolution of Westfield Miranda next week. Below is a CityRail (Sydney Trains) advertisement from 1990 that offered free travel on Sydney trains upon presentation of their drivers licence after 9am on February 8, 1990.

Source: CityRail. 1990. "On Thursday After 9am Travel Free Anywhere On This Page Just By Showing Your Drivers Licence. The Daily Telegraph, February 6: 12. 

Property Advert of the Week: The Forum, St Leonards (1997)

In 2018, I presented an entry on The Forum development at St Leonards. Below is a 1997 advertisement to promote apartments in the main tower (eastern side).

Source: Winten Project Marketing. 1997. "The Forum" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, September 20: 9RE (Real Estate Liftout).