Explained: Hub Local at Box Hill Central

Senior Development Manager, Michael Fragale knows what it takes to deliver on strategic plans.

A 10-year Vicinity veteran, Michael has worked on a variety of development projects including a retail renovation at Cranbourne Park and the $500-million redevelopment of The Glen.

Over the past few years, we have seen the trend of ‘work near home’ gain momentum, where office workers and businesses are looking for amenity-rich, CBD quality office space closer to home in suburban locations, Michael’s recent work has included the delivery of premium coworking spaces at Box Hill Central, with Hub Australia.

The new coworking space is the first of Hub Australia’s suburban ‘Hub Local’ branches and the first Hub coworking space in the Vicinity portfolio.

VCX: Michael, what is Hub Local Box Hill?

MF: Hub Local is a four-level, 4,100 sqm co-working office space positioned above a brand-new Coles at the popular Box Hill Central shopping centre.

Hub Local Box Hill provides a CBD-quality shared office space with a flexible range of suites, offices, and desks. Exclusive premium amenities will also be available to members, including a café, business lounge, media studio, and a member kitchen. The benefits continue outside of the space with fantastic amenities including a broad selection of retail and dining courtesy of the adjoining Box Hill Central.

The space is Hub’s first shared office space in a suburban location and the first location they have completed with Vicinity.

VCX: What makes Box Hill Central a good location for a co-working space?

MF: Box Hill Central is a great location for Hub Local and its patrons for a variety of reasons.

Box Hill is an area that attracts many customers and workers, with the centre boasting approximately 22.5 million visits each year, and expected to grow in the future.

Amongst the 225,000 people living within 5km of Box Hill Central’s doors is a high concentration of high income, highly educated and career focused families, expected to grow between 3% to 5% a year which is double the pace of Greater Melbourne.

Additional to the great target customers living close to the centre, Box Hill is really well connected to the public transport network with Box Hill Railway Station and Box Hill Bus Interchange close by. Not to mention the Suburban Rail Loop once that is delivered.

Box Hill Central, and many of our other centres, make great locations for office space because of the unparalleled amenity working above a shopping destination can provide. Hub Local Box Hill has direct access to all the retail and dining amenity at Box Hill Central including a completely refreshed southern part of the centre.

VCX: What did you and the Hub team set out to do with the project?

MF: First and foremost, we set out to provide a high-quality coworking space that allows people work closer to home, enjoying the benefits face to face meetings and collaboration without sacrificing office quality.

We also set out to make sure Hub Local Box Hill was well integrated to the centre while retaining its own identity. To do that we decided to position it above the new Coles at Box Hill but give it a dedicated entrance to allow workers easy access.

VCX: The space looks great and very open, particularly with the stairs running through the centre. What was the thinking behind this?

MF: The stairs are my favourite aspect of the building.

Along with the central atrium, the multi-level stairs are a key feature of the building architecture. Not only do they look great, they provide physical and visual connectivity and allow light to spill between the levels which gives us a sustainability benefit by reducing the energy required for artificial lighting.

We’ve also added a number of other features that I’m sure workers will enjoy including a dining and meeting terrace with lovely tree top views , a contemporary kitchen space and end of trip facilities.

VCX: Were there any other sustainability strategies used during the design and construction of the space?

MF: Sustainability is always a key consideration in any development, both in design and in construction.

For Hub Local Box Hill, we delivered 20kw PV solar array, adaptive reuse of elements of the existing facade, and rainwater detention tanks which will help reduce our energy intensity while end of trip facilities on all three levels and secure bicycle parking on the ground floor encourage sustainable commuting.

VCX: Finally, how does Hub Local fit in to Box Hill Central’s broader development plans?

MF: We have some big plans for Box Hill Central and we’re already on the way to delivering them.

We started with a $45m retail renovation of the south precinct, delivering a new Coles, improved accessibility, a widened common mall area and dual frontage restaurants. We’ve added to that now with the delivery of the Hub Local coworking space which will immediately have positive synergies with our retailers benefiting from increased patronage working from Hub.

Following these, we have a masterplan vision for Box Hill which will revitalise the heart of Box Hill’s CBD, to create a bustling new town square and mixed-use precinct with new residential, commercial and retail developments.

All combined, the vision will transform 5.5 hectares in the centre of Box Hill into a world class mixed-use and retail precinct for more than 6,000 workers and 3,800 residents by 2030.