Frasers Property Australia has opened Western Sydney’s new shopping, dining and entertainment destination has opened after the pandemic pressed pause on its launch in March.
Eastern Creek Quarter, or ECQ, is a new super-neighbourhood centre anchored by a full-line 3,800 sqm Woolworths supermarket. COVID-19 restrictions and Woolworths’ decision to prioritise online orders deferred the March opening.
ECQ is located within the Western Sydney Parklands. With around 10,000 sqm of gross lettable area, ECQ houses a mix of local concepts and quality brands, as well as a gym and medical centre.
Felicity Armstrong, general manager for retail assets at Frasers Property Australia, says ECQ offers “an Australian-first dining experience with a distinct local flavour”. The centre’s ECQ Social integrates revolving street food tenancies with permanent dining choices.
Frasers Property has launched ECQ Order Up! to help food retailers provide contactless table ordering, takeaway, kerbside pick-up and home delivery.
And the ECQ Rewards App helps shoppers accumulate points which can be redeemed for vouchers and special offers.
Stage 1 of ECQ has been awarded a 6 Star Green Star design rating from the Green Building Council of Australia, representing world leadership.
The first stage of ECQ features 1MW of solar panels and a 200kL onsite rainwater tank, as well as water management features to capture and re-use water for irrigation and amenities.
Frasers Property is now focused on leasing for Stage 2, which will deliver another 11,600 sqm of large format retail space and 350-odd parking spaces.
ECQ Stage 2 is among the projects named by the NSW Government to undergo a fast-tracked assessment process as part of the Planning System Acceleration Program.
Frasers Property says the fundamentals for large format retailers and showrooms are strong given the site’s accessibility. Around 11.2 million vehicles travel along the Great Western Highway each year. ECQ is within a 15-minute drive for 330,000 people and a 30-minute drive for 1.2 million people.
According to Suellen Fitzgerald, Western Sydney Parklands Trust’s executive director, the development “benefits the whole community” with “quality local jobs” and recurrent income for the trust.
“This allows the Trust to manage 98 per cent of the Parklands including providing high-quality green open space, award-winning recreation areas, maintaining over 60 kilometres of tracks and trails and helping to fund a 1,000 hectare expansion of bushland corridor,” Fitzgerald says.
Cutting the ribbon on ECQ are Frasers Property Australia’s Anthony Boyd, Western Sydney Parklands Trust executive director Suellen Fitzgerald and Frasers Property’s general manager of retail assets Felicity Armstrong.