Mauled: Part of Box Hill centre knocked down to make way for towers

Shopping mall giant Vicinity Centres will knock down a sizeable chunk of Box Hill Central shopping centre over the next two years and replace it with a 51-storey apartment tower, 25 level office and new town square.

The ASX listed $8.5 billion landlord will start work on the first stage of a 10-year masterplan after gaining planning approval to overhaul the 5.5 hectare complex that sits above the Box Hill train station next to Melbourne’s largest bus transport hub.

Vicinity’s chief development officer Carolyn Viney said the company was sounding out tenant precommitments for its new office and would monitor rising construction costs to pick the best time to launch both projects.

“If we’re still talking about what we’re going to do and we haven’t started in two years, I would be disappointed,” Viney said. “We are knocking down and starting again on the Box Hill north part.”

About 2000 workers will occupy the office tower’s 47,000 square metres once it is completed.

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The 366 apartment tower will house about 600 residents and have another 7000 sq m of office space and 680 sq m of retail in the podium level.

Between them, the two towers are designed as standalone buildings set in 3350 sq m of new public space, including a partially covered public plaza and Spanish-steps inspired amphitheatre.

The overhaul means key tenants at the centre are on the move. “We are in the process of relocating Coles out of Box Hill North having built them a beautiful new supermarket in Box Hill south,” Viney said.