Melbourne Airport Corporation plans retail and hospitality extension at T2 International facility

Melbourne Airport Corporation is touting plans to extend its T2 International facility at Tullamarine with a new shopping centre, restaurant precinct and 4500 square metres of additional airline lounges.

The 15,000 sqm proposal will build on the success of T2 Luxury, the company said.

The four-level T2 extension (images above and below) would include 3500 sqm of retail space, accommodating about 30 shops and hospitality outlets, a rooftop piazza with a viewing deck and five airport lounges.

It will also include increased seating in the main area of the International Departure level.

“If approved, works are set to commence in October, 2019 with an opening date forecast for mid to late 2022,” a company statement said.

“On an average day around 30,000 people fly in and out of Terminal 2, making it one of the busiest hubs of the airport”.

The existing T2 facility reopened in late 2017 following a $50 million renovation.

At that time, it was reported Melbourne Airport earned $160 million from its retail profits, accounting for about 18.5 per cent of its total revenue.

The 2017 T2 refurbishment was mooted more than three years earlier when research showed there was a strong demand for Melbourne Airport to have a higher standard of retail options.

Swank retailers including Burberry, Emporio Armani, Max Mara, Salvatore Ferragamo, Tiffany & Co and Watches of Switzerland are now amongst the tenants.

Brunetti, Café Vue by Shannon Bennett and Movida, via its Bar Pulpo, occupy space within a food precinct.

Melbourne Airport covers 2663 hectares, about 22 kilometres north-west of the CBD. It is curfew-free – operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week – with three Domestic terminals.

In recent years MAC has made more efficient use of land it controls around the peripheral of the airport site.

This has included securing the Essendon Football Club as a tenant for its True Value Solar Centre training complex, at 275 Melrose Drive (image, below).

Next door to the Essendon complex, URBNSURF is building a wave pool on a seven hectares site, part of which was for years occupied as an airport staff social club (the Melbourne Airport Club relocated to the Tullamarine’s Spring Street Reserve after the wave pool announcement).

MAC has also constructed numerous logistics centres for occupiers including Agility, Bollore, Border Express, DHL, TNT and Toll IPEC, at the southern-most edge of its holding.

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Marc Pallisco

A former property analyst and print journalist, Marc is the publisher of realestatesource.com.au.