An artist’s impression of the new large format retail centre in Goulburn. Photo: Stevens Land.
A $30 million shopping centre for large format retailers including Harvey Norman has been proposed for land in South Goulburn now occupied by former wool stores.
The two-stage development will include a service station which has planning approval, and will create more than 160 jobs in retail, maintenance and grounds upkeep and $10 million in annual wages.
The former Goulburn Wool Store Warehouse takes up much of the 2.843 hectare site at 136 Hume Street.
Developer Stevens Land Pty Ltd proposes a single-storey large format retail development for eight individual tenancies and a detached large format retail tenancy on the eastern side of the site.
Car parking would be provided for 236 vehicles, including 26 staff spaces.
Stevens Land development director Jason Capuano says work on a 7-Eleven shop and service station should begin later this month and should be completed by November.
He says Stevens Land has signed an agreement for lease with Harvey Norman, which will move from its 1000 sqm shop in Auburn Street into a 4000 sqm store with a larger range and better access for people of all abilities.
It also has lease agreements with Total Tools, Pet Stock, Choices Discount Variety and is in negotiations with other national retailers which are not in Goulburn.
The developer is now awaiting consent on the development application and hopes to demolish the wool warehouse over the remainder of 2026. This would enable construction on the new centre in January 2027.
“Most of the project will be built by the end of 2027; there may be still some internal fit-out and works from the tenants over that Christmas break and a grand opening around March 2028,” Mr Capuano said.
He says the wool warehouse is in poor condition, otherwise they would have considered reusing what’s there. The material will be recycled.
“What these tenants will do, and this additional retail space will do is keep a lot of that spending in Goulburn, which keeps subsidiary spending in Goulburn as well,” he said.
“When people go to Canberra they might stay for lunch, and spend more money in Canberra whereas there is less need to drive to Canberra for retail goods (because of the new development). They’ll spend more money locally,” he said.
Stevens Land has recently completed a major retail and childcare centre at Googong near Queanbeyan and builds projects all over NSW.
The proponent’s economic consultant HillPDA, citing the Goulburn CBD Master Plan, says the city is undersupplied for bulky goods floor space.
The old Goulburn wool warehouse which will be demolished later this year to make way for a new shopping centre. Photo: John Thistleton.
“The proposal addresses the current supply shortage rather than creating oversupply,” the consultant says. “As a result, the impacts on existing centres in the locality, particularly Goulburn CBD, would be minimal or insignificant.
The consultant’s report says providing the new retailing space would stem people shopping in Canberra, Queanbeyan and Bowral and provide jobs closer to home and a catalyst for more investment in the locality.
Vehicle access will be via the service station from Hume Street and Finlay Road.
The proponent’s traffic impact assessment report says the intersection of Finlay Street/Hume Street operates at capacity in the weekday afternoon and Saturday midday peak hours.
Transport for NSW is investigating upgrading the intersection of Hume Street and Finlay Road to either a two-lane roundabout or traffic signal control.
