THE SHOPPING centre where Australia’s first K-Mart opened in 1969, is set to undergo a major extension and renovation.
 
The owners of the K-Mart Plaza, also known as the East Burwood Plaza, will double the size of the complex, on the corner of Burwood Highway and Blackburn Road, from 15,000 square metres to 30,000 square metres.
 
Pomeroy Pacific development manager Paul Chiodo said the $35 million extension will add about 30 specialty shops, a 5,500 square metre Coles supermarket, a 333 seat restaurant, gymnasium, and a First Choice bottle shop. The extension will be built over an an existing car park, on the western side of the 6.3 hectare site.

German discount supermarket chain Aldi will lease the 2,981 square metre supermarket space currently occupied by Coles. K-Mart, which occupies about 8,444 square metres of space and trades 24-hours a day, will not relocate.
 
Mr Chiodo confirmed the extension and renovation will start early next year.
 
The K-Mart Plaza is between Colonial First State’s 57,138 square metre Forest Hill Chase Shopping Centre, and Centro’s 62,830 square metre The Glen, in Glen Waverley. 
 
After the extension, K-Mart Plaza will be substantially bigger than the nearby Vermont South Shopping Centre, and the Burwood Heights Shopping Centre. K-Mart Plaza is controlled by a consortium of private investors, and Pomeroy, which paid $13.3 million for the centre in 1992.