Stockland has cleared another hurdle on the way to expanding its Green Hills shopping centre.
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Maitland City Council approved amended plans for the renovations last night, to increase the leasable floor space at the shopping complex from 32,921 square metres to 67,382 square metres.
Stockland spokesman Greg Spears said a start-work date had not been confirmed, but the company would announce a timeline for construction in due course.
He said work would take about two years to complete and it is understood construction will begin next year.
The changed plans include a new car park entry from Stronach Avenue, extra ground-level car parks at the back of the site and a minor floor space reduction for the proposed Myer department store.
A colonnade and town square near the proposed Mitchell Drive dining precinct were also included in the new plans.
“The development remains essentially the same as originally approved and the changes represent fine tuning of the original scheme to meet the latest innovations in retail shopping centre design, particularly in terms of the dining areas,” Mr Spears said.
“The amendments, which have been submitted to council, are designed to ensure improved environmental
performance, the creation of more contemporary food and dining, and improved customer convenience and safety, with the reorganisation of parking areas and access ramps between levels.”
The Mercury reported in May that plans for the $350 million upgrade of the Molly Morgan Drive shopping centre included a two-level, 10,611 square metre Myer store and 24,926 square metres of specialty retail space.
The number of car parks will more than double to 3203 spaces.
A council staff report said the new plans were similar to the previously approved development in terms of building height, scale, mass and architectural form.