Fashion retail landmark founded

MELBOURNE: A revamped retail development in the heart of Victoria's capital promises to add a splash of fashion colour to the west of the CBD.
Melbourne icon The Foundry - once the home of Danks, McEwan's and Bunnings hardware retail sites - has been transformed into an upper end retail precinct targeting Melbourne's white collar and corporate community, for which leasing agents Wilmot Murchie and Jones Lang La Salle are currently seeking occupants.
Featuring 40 retail tenancies, the 6300 square metre site would be located between key CBD thoroughfare Bourke Street and the renowned fashion precinct of Little Collins Street.
Wilmot Murchie director Alan Murchie said it would include high-end fashion and food and beverage offers as well as "daily needs" retailers, designed to target white collar workers.
Refurbished by Melbourne architect Fender Katsalidis, the site would be completed by the end of the year with tenants to take possession in early 2007, Murchie said.
"From the point of view of fashion, The Foundry is a very interesting and quite beautiful space, and an attractive environment in which to showcase fashion brands."
Plans included a fashion and accessories component on the Bourke Street side targeting the "corporate market", while fashion forward retailers with a more independent profile would be housed on the Little Collins Street side, he said.
"The fundamentals of The Foundry are very strong. From the point of view of quality the design and layout are excellent. It's in a prime location in the heart of the office worker sector which means it's a huge catchment."
The site had been designed to cater to weekday traffic but - thanks to the asset of nearly 200 parking spaces - would also attract weekend trade, he said.
"Basically we've re-opened what was once a very busy thoroughfare or 'ant track' around the section of [key CBD thoroughfare] Collins Street between Elizabeth and Queen Streets. Until now the retail offer in the area of Melbourne's CBD west of Elizabeth Street has been disparate and there hasn't been much of a fashion focus in that area. The Foundry will create that focus."