History of Robina Town Centre

Arthur Earle purchased around 3000 acres of land between Nerang and Mudgeeraba. Before Robina was developed into the A$4 billion Shopping Centre it is today it was nothing but a flood plain and swap and used by grazing cattle in the dry season. Earle created a track through the middle of his newly purchased land which over a short amount of time became a busy road which was linked up with the old railway line to form part of today’s Pacific Highway

1980 Arthur Earle and a Singapore Developer Robin Loh purchased 1658 hectares of land worth $11.2 million with the intention to build a community. With no time wasted, they assigned an urban planner to develop the master concept plan that reshaped a once useless landscape. Flood prone areas were built up from fill, which was dug from artificial lakes, the project was still shaped by the lands location on a flood plain. Neighbouring farm properties were purchased and the land holding was enlarged to over 1850 hectares and Robina became Australia’s largest privately owned master planned residential community

The Robina Town Centre was opened in 1996 and a community with the services of schools, hospitals, rail link, police and fire stations. In 1998, the centre received a Commendation from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects.

In 2007, the Robina Town Centre commenced on a $300 million extension

The extension then opened in April 2009 - these works added a 2nd Woolworths supermarket, a Big W (which opened as the largest Big W store in Australia), a two-storey Borders book store, a new entertainment and leisure precinct surrounding the lake including new cinemas and restaurants, a new state of the art 900-seat Food Atrium, plus over 100 new stores and an additional 1,100 parking spaces. In 2010, Robina Town Centre completed a $90 million expansion with the addition of a Myer store (in the location of the previous Birch, Carroll and Coyle Cinemas) plus 12 new fashion stores in a new mall linking Arbour Lane to the food markets.

2015, a new mall opened adjacent to Market Hall with a 4,200 square metre Super Coles Store and an additional 1,500 square metres of retail space. Stage 2B of Market Hall (The Kitchens) is currently under construction and is planned to incorporate 55 new retailers and is set to be completed by late 2016

Also scheduled for a revamp is the food atrium, which is set to be completed in September 2016. Further development commenced in May 2016 with The Central Malls Project starting which will link the existing West and East fashion malls, the new mall is set to become the bustling heart of Robina Town Centre offering completely new flagship brands and outlets as well as approximately 45 new specialty stores.

The Central Malls Project is expected to be opened in 2018.