Westfield Sydney ‘changing the face of retailing’, but Bondi Junction the most valuable: Steven Lowy

Westfield Sydney on Pitt Street Mall in the Sydney CBD achieved the highest specialty sales productivity in Westfield’s global portfolio, according to the group’s 2011 annual results.

The flagship store achieved speciality annual sales of more than $16,000 per square metre, with the next best performer being the Chermside Mall in Brisbane, which achieved speciality sales of $13,700 per square metre. The Chermside Mall is also Westfield’s biggest mall with 146,000 square metres of space.

Westfield Sydney, which has 257 stores and a gross lettable area of 78,000 square metres, is valued at just under $1 billion (up $944 million from $942 million) in the annual report while the adjacent Sydney Central Plaza, also on Pitt Street, is valued at $299 million, up from $287 million.

Westfield Bondi Junction in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, which achieved retail sales of $973 million or $12,400 per square metre, remains the most valuable in the Australian portfolio valued at $1.05 billion

Bondi Junction rents sit at about $1,200 per square metre.

The annual report does not provide annual sales figures for Westfield Sydney but co-CEO Steven Lowy says David Jones in Westfield Sydney and Myer in Sydney Central Plaza achieved sales of $1.1 billion for the year.

He describes the store as an “immediate success” that was “changing the face of retailing in the Sydney CBD with its combination of global and local high street retailers and high-quality dining”.

Lowy says rents at Westfield Sydney averaged $1,500 per square metre, the highest for a project of this scale and higher than in Westfield London and Westfield Stratford – its newest stores in the UK.

As a standalone store Sydney Central Plaza achieved annual sales of $357 million, with speciality annual sales of $16,000 per square metre.