# Pacific Fair Shopping Centre

Pacific Fair is a major shopping centre in the suburb of Broadbeach Waters on the Gold Coast, Queensland.

## Transport

Pacific Fair has a bus station with connections to Robina, Nerang and SeaWorld/Main Beach, Tweed Heads and the Gold Coast University Hospital.
Broadbeach South Station on the G:link light rail line is a short walk from Pacific Fair and provides tram connections north to the Gold Coast University Hospital via Surfers Paradise, Main Beach and Southport.
All bus services are provided by Kinetic Group and tram services by G:link under contract to Qld Transport's Translink.

## History
### 20th Century
#### Mid 1970s: purchase of land

Construction of Pacific Fair in May 1976 on land south of Margaret Street that was formerly swampland on the western bank of Little Tallebudgera Creek in what was then known as Broadbeach. The centre took 16 months to complete and was developed by Hooker Retail Developments for around $17 million.

#### 1977 opening

Pacific Fair opened on 23 August 1977 and featured McDonnell & East department store, Kmart discount department store, Coles supermarket and 96 specialty stores. Since its opening in 1977 it surpassed the now-demolished Sundale Shopping Centre in Southport as the Gold Coast's leading shopping centre.
Pacific Fair's original 17ha site featured a themed, outdoor design, including mock-Tudor buildings and European thoroughfares, Asian villages with fish ponds, and a French Quarter.
In 1978 Pacific Fair was sold to AMP Society with Hooker Developments having still retained the management of the centre.

#### 1980s: redevelopment

Pacific Fair underwent its first redevelopment in 1982 with the opening of Myer department store, a new enlarged relocated Coles supermarket and 32 specialty stores.
A $200 million redevelopment was announced in 1987 and a further $160 million was announced in 1989 to expand the centre by 87,500m². This redevelopment included the construction of pink turrets on the roof tops overlooking Little Tallebudgera Creek.
In 1989 a bridge was built across Little Tallebudgera Creek to improve access to the centre and the Gold Coast Highway.
The first stage of the development opened in 1990 and was known as The Village. It saw the old teepees and kiosks in the centre replaced by an indoor two-level mall.
The last stages of the redevelopment were complete in 1992 with the pink facade built on the roof tops, in which Pacific Fair became known as the 'Pink Palace'. It also saw the opening of the newly relocated four-level Myer department store which featured a central atrium and waterfall with a large skylight and glass-backed lifts which allowed shoppers a view over the coastal strip. The old Myer building became a two-level enclosed mall which opened in October 1992.
In January 1994, the McDonnell & East department store ceased trading. This store was replaced by Target on the ground floor which opened in August and Toys "R" Us on the first level which opened in September.
In 1996 12-screen Birch Carroll and Coyle Cinema opened with special screening of the special edition re-release of Star Wars. More than 3000 people attended that event at the cinema on its opening day.
On 21 September 1998, the Japanese department store chain Daimaru opened after a $40m expansion of the centre. Despite having signed a lease on that section of the centre until 2024, the chain exited the Australian market entirely and the store ceased trading on 31 January 2002.

### 21st Century
#### 2015 - 2016 Redevelopment

In January 2014, work began on stage one of the major $670 million redevelopment and re-branding of Pacific Fair to meet the predicted regional growth on the Gold Coast. The well-known pink turreted structures on the roof were removed and replaced with a new facade. Much of the central outdoor alameda was demolished and replaced with an indoor complex. The centre's lotus flower logos were replaced with a simple logo of intertwined initials.
In November 2014, the first stage of the re-development was completed with the re-opening of the north-east mall (formerly Daimaru department store), with a new enlarged relocated Target on the ground floor and a new JB Hi Fi Home store on the first level.
Stage two of the redevelopment was completed by late June 2015. A section of the new south-west mall opened which featured a new relocated enlarged Coles supermarket (which opened on 25 June), 12 specialty stores and a new carpark.
Stage three saw more of the new south-west mall opening on 20 August 2015, bringing in a new Woolworths supermarket, new Big W, new Rebel, 20 stores in the 'Fresh Food Market' area and around 20 specialty stores. This development stage occupies the southwest corner are situated on the site of the previous cinemas.
The Event Cinemas reopened with three Gold Class cinemas and one VMax theatre on 5 November 2015 and The Patio, a casual dining precinct featuring 12 new dining outlets on 12 November 2015 as part of stage four. The Patio links the area from near Kmart to level one retailers in the new southwest mall near Big W.
The final stage of the $670 million redevelopment was completed by 5 May 2016. This included the opening of 'The Resort' area an open-air retail precinct, filled with four water fountains, palm trees and cabanas along with an extended mall section. 'The Resort' leisure section occupies the previous site of Coles. This stage saw the opening of the two-level David Jones on the previous site of Toys 'R' Us and a number of international brands such as H&M, Uniqlo and Sephora. The Louis Vuitton store marks what was formerly a Warner Bros Studio Store.
A two-level Zara store opened on 13 October 2016 and Culture Kings opened on 1 December 2016.
The expansion has added 120 specialty stores and increased the total number of specialty stores to more than 400.

#### Ownership

In September 2021, Dexus Wholesale Property Fund has offered a 20 percent interest in the stakes held by AMP Capital. AMP has also introduced UniSuper and Cbus Property to ACRT as part of its stake in October. The management of Pacific Fair has been transferred from ACRT to GPT Group in September 2022.

## Incidents and accidents

* On 3 August 2016, a 61-year-old woman died after an accident in the carpark involving a boom gate. It is believed the woman accidentally accelerated instead of putting the car into park after opening her door to try to get her parking ticket out of the recently installed machine and smacked her head onto the steel ticket machine.
* On 9 March 2024, a 21-year-old woman was stabbed just outside of the centre at around 8:30am by a 32-year-old man who tried to befriend her after she got off the tram. The man has been charged since.

## Tenants

Pacific Square has 166,000m² of floor space. The major retailers include David Jones, Myer, Big W, Kmart, Target, Coles, Woolworths, Cotton On, Culture Kings, H&M, Uniqlo, Zara, JB Hi-Fi, Rebel and Event Cinemas.