Westfield Tuggerah is located adjacent to an exit from the M1 Motorway.
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Westfield Tuggerah has bus connections to Charmhaven, The Entrance, Gosford, Lake Haven, Ourimbah and Wyong, as well as local surrounding suburbs. It is served by Busways, Hunter Valley Buses and Red Bus Services. The majority of its bus services are located at the bus interchange outside Event Cinemas.
Westfield Tuggerah has multi level car parks with 3,157 spaces.
History
Westfield Tuggerah opened on 19 October 1995 after only 13 months of construction. The $170 million development was built on a greenfield site that was located across the road from the Wyong District Abattoirs. Originally a single storey shopping complex surrounded by car parks, the centre featured the Central Coast's only David Jones, as well as Big W, Woolworths, Intencity arcade, an eight screen Greater Union cinema, international food court and 140 specialty stores.[3]
Following the opening there has been a progressive decline in shopping in the nearby towns, with many empty stores and banks in Wyong in particular.
This development added a second level onto the existing centre in July 2005 and the restaurant precinct was added in September 2005. By 2006, the whole redevelopment and extension was completed and opened. This redevelopment added in a Target, Harris Scarfe, Aldi, Coles, Trade Secret, Lincraft, JB Hi-Fi, Timezone arcade and 90 specialty stores.[7]
In 2008, approval was given for another extension to expand the centre by 16,500m² and create a two-level enclosed shopping centre.[citation needed] The expansion proposed a third discount department store, four extra cinemas and another 40 stores and more car parks. However this approval was not acted on.[citation needed]
In September 2009, Myer announced a proposal for a store in the centre to open by the end of 2013. The proposals were for a store of two levels and approximately 12,000 square metres. This was at the time of Myer's re-listing on the share market.[8][9]
In December 2013, plans were for a $50 million expansion of Westfield Tuggerah to add a further 12,638 m2 of retail space to its existing centre with work planned for two stages. The first stage would involve the addition of the two level Myer store, new stores and an expanded parking area. Stage 2 would include a Vmax cinema.[10]
In September 2015, it was announced that there would be no Myer opening at Tuggerah and any expansion plans would be suspended.[11]
On 25 July 2016, H&M opened its first Central Coast store in the centre.[12]TK Maxx which replaced Trade Secret opened on 17 May 2018.
On 21 January 2020, Harris Scarfe closed down.[13] It was replaced by JB Hi-Fi, which relocated within the shopping centre. iPlay replaced Timezone and opened on 6 March 2021.
In early 2021, David Jones closed its upper level so the store was reduced to a single level store.[citation needed] On 18 November 2021, Kmart opened on the former level 2 David Jones space.[citation needed]
Future
Westfield Tuggerah is part of the $2.8 billion Tuggerah Town Centre masterplan to develop Tuggerah as a lifestyle hub. The masterplan proposes a combination of uses for the 70 hectares of land including new community facilities, large green spaces and parklands and the creation of active transport connections to a redeveloped transport interchange at Tuggerah station.[14] It will also transform the surrounding area into a major hub of employment, transport, housing, leisure, health and education. As part of this masterplan Westfield Tuggerah will add more entertainment, leisure and dining options and expand to the vacant land behind the centre and on the other side of Tonkiss St, as well as nearby land owned by Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council.[15][16]
