Forest Hill Chase
Forest Hill Chase is a major regional shopping centre located in Forest Hill, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. It has approximately 200 shops across three levels and parking space for over 3400 cars.
Known locally as "The Chase", it has three supermarkets, two discount department stores, a Hoyts cinema complex and some smaller anchor stores. The JY Group and Haben Property Fund have shared joint 50/50 ownership of Forest Hill Chase since 2022.
First proposed in 1957, the centre officially opened on 30 June 1964 with 70 shops in an open-air mall layout, and has since undergone significant redevelopments completed in July 1976 and December 1990. It was originally known as the Forest Hill Shopping Centre, becoming Forest Hill Chase during redevelopment in 1989.
Early development (1955–70)
Background
In 1955, Polish-born property developer Paul Fayman bought a 3.8-hectare farm at Canterbury Road in Forest Hill, intending to establish a landmark retail destination for Melbourne's booming eastern suburbs. The idea followed the Myer Emporium's 1954 purchase of 34 hectares in nearby Burwood for an American-style regional shopping centre – a concept then new to Victoria. After about two years of preliminary planning, it was formally announced in July 1957 that Fayman’s Forest Hill project would cost £5 million and comprise approximately 70 shops, two competing service stations, public open space, an adjoining housing estate, and unmetered parking for 1,400 cars—envisioned as an “almost complete town”.Its proximity to Myer’s proposed Burwood centre is widely cited as a factor in Myer redirecting its focus to Melbourne’s south-east, leading to the development of Chadstone, which later became Australia’s largest shopping centre. Envisioned as the largest and most modern of its kind in Victoria, the Forest Hill centre was jointly proposed by Fayman and an informal consortium of private individuals – including lawyers Maurice Slonim, Leon Velik and Joseph Emanuel, architect Bill Wheatland, and engineer Walter McLaughlan. Some members of the group had previously developed one of Victoria's earliest supermarkets at 210 Nicholson Street, Footscray and an arcade of shops within West Heidelberg's popular Bell Street Mall.
Early planning and delays (1956–64)
Directors and consultants made several study trips to the United States, armed with cameras and tasked with surveying the newest generation of American regional shopping centres. Early plans referred to it as the Forest Hills Drive-In Shopping Centre, but by 1958 the scheme was being advertised as the Stonestown Drive-In Shopping Centre. This name was a deliberate reference to Stonestown Galleria in San Francisco, one of the most influential post-war malls in the United States, whose architectural identity directly informed the design of the Forest Hill centre.The Stonestown advertising campaign ceased by 1960, and the centre reverted to its earlier branding of Forest Hills in time for opening in June 1964. However, this name caused controversy as it didn't accurately reflect the suburb of Forest Hill – instead keeping with the American theme and referencing the Forest Hills neighbourhood in New York City. The 's' of was dropped from the centre's branding in the early 1970s, however, it continued to be colloquially called Forest Hills well into following decades. The original centre was designed as a single-level, open-air strip complex built around a rectangular inner block called Canterbury Court, where two landscaped courtyards were enclosed by a continuous ring of shops. An angled, sloping spine of stores known as Centre Court cut through the middle of the block, linking the large front and rear car parks while dividing the twin courtyards. A service loop encircled the retail block, and a separate row of narrow, ancillary shops lined the eastern boundary along Mahoneys Road.
The proposal was exceptionally ambitious for the time and struggled to gain momentum from the outset. After its initial announcement, information about the project became subject to continual rumours. In an October 1957 interview with the Nunawading Gazette, engineer and spokesperson Walter McLaughlan admitted the developers felt they almost owed an apology to local residents, prospective buyers, and business owners. "Few people could realise the headaches which arise in a project of the magnitude of 75 shops, 44 houses, a theatre, halls, and all the amenities to be built here," he said. Between 1955 and 1958, the developers acquired an additional 18 hectares of surrounding land, effectively quadrupling the housing estate's size to 190 lots. More than £250,000 was set aside for roads, drainage, and sewerage across the shopping centre's 11-hectare site.
All roadworks were contracted to F.J. Kerr & Bros, who constructed several streets including Barter Crescent, Paul Road, and a 1.3-kilometre extension of Mahoneys Road, linking Burwood Highway and Canterbury Road. In preparation for a scheduled opening in early 1959, major retailers including Woolworths and Coles reserved sites. Tenders for construction were called in December 1958, but just as work was set to begin, the partnership between Fayman and McLaughlan collapsed amid financial shortfalls. By March 1959, Fayman's consortium secured new funding through Paynes Properties, part of the Reid-Murray conglomerate, which took a controlling interest under its "Develop Victoria" program and planned to open a Paynes Bon Marché department store on-site.
With additional funding secured, leading commercial architects Leslie M. Perrott & Partners were hired to expand on and enhance Wheatland's 1957/58 design A press conference to officially launch the development was held on 26 May 1959 at the Hotel Australia. In attendance were journalists from local TV stations, radio, newspapers and the project's developers, architects and investors. In announcing his company's participation in the £6,000,000 Forest Hill project, Norman Rockman of the Rockman's department store chain said that "regional drive-in shopping centres will soon play a vital part in the shopping habits of the community". Rockman's, which had recently been acquired by Stanley Korman, joined the development as an anchor tenant.
Representing Payne's Properties and the Reid-Murray group, Raymond Borg said in his speech to the crowd: "My associates and I feel we shall build more than an ultra-modern drive-in shopping centre, planned by far-sighted people." He also said that the centre would be "the largest and most modern in Australia". The next day, HSV-7 aired an interview with the project's supervising architect, Leslie M. Perrott Junior, who discussed his firm's design. In October 1959, it was announced that a £50,000 medical centre would also be built next to the shopping centre, though this never eventuated. Tenders for construction were called once again, and works commenced around November 1959. In preparation for construction of the shops and houses, an orchard of about 500 trees was bulldozed, 6 hectares of thickly-timbered remnant bushland was cleared, and a few old timber cottages were burnt down. Contracter McDougall-Ireland built three large anchor stores near the car park at Canterbury Road, and a dozen subsidiary shops in the Centre Court. Residential land first went to auction in December 1959, with many lots having homes built by Paynes Properties and sold as a package. The developers sought to establish a £100,000 hotel with the centre, and Carlton & United Breweries applied for a liquor license. But this move was strongly opposed by local government, who stressed road safety issues and the welfare of the students at the adjacent Nunawading High School. The centre's opening was subsequently rescheduled from March 1960 to January 1961, but this was optimistic given the circumstances facing the developers. After 89 ratepayers and local associations sent written objections to Council, it was agreed by a vote of 9 to 1 that Council should intervene and a public hearing was convened at the Licensing Court.
In June 1960, amid protracted disputes and the establishment of a local protest society, the developers announced that they would not proceed with the hotel plans. By this time, only the initial few shops had been built, but would sit empty long past their schedule opening. The delay was mainly due to declining economic conditions and an eventual stock market crash, which lead to the 1961/62 bankruptcy of industrialist Stanley Korman – a key backer of the project. In his sole biographical interview, Fayman likened the scenery at Forest Hill to "a ghost town". The abandoned parking surfaces became a place for drifting cars. Meanwhile, rival centre Chadstone opened in October 1960 to much fanfare.
To make matters worse, another key financier – Raymond Borg of Payne's Properties – was under investigation for unrelated fraud and later served jail time. This received significant coverage by the press, contributing to Payne's parent company, Reid-Murray Holdings, being placed into a receivership amid what journalists described as the single-largest and longest bankruptcy in Australian history. The liquidator confirmed in February 1964 that Reid-Murray's receivers still held an interest in the development, which one shareholder described as a "monument to stupidity".
Development restarts again (1964)
In early 1964, nearly a decade after it was first proposed, Fayman and his associates began seeking additional investors to get the project going again. As Fayman recalled, he was showing shop builders Maurice Alter and George Herscu around the deserted centre when Herscu suddenly blurted out: "Why just buy the shops? I want to buy the whole centre". Alter and Herscu subsequently acquired a joint controlling interest in the development, which had previously been held bfy Reid-Murray's receivers. Fayman & associates retained about a 25% interest. The Fayman-Alter-Herscu partnership would later consolidate their companies as the Masaga Group, which soon morphed into the prominent Hanover Holdings. One journalist suggested that the success of the centre at Forest Hill laid the foundation of Herscu and Alter's multi-billion dollar fortune.With the backing of Herscu and Alter, Fayman's team managed to convince supermarket chain owner Bill Pratt and his executives to inspect the unfinished Forest Hill centre. Alter and Fayman greeted them at the site and proposed that the Pratt's Supermarket chain should lease the centre's unfinished 25,000 square-foot department store and convert it into a large supermarket. Recalling the condition of the site, a director stated that there were "derelict buildings with cows grazing" and "lots of mud". Pratt agreed to open a branch of his self-service supermarket chain at Forest Hill, and as part of the deal, arranged for McEwans Hardware to lease a large adjoining store. Shortly after, it was announced that a branch of the popular Moores department store chain was to be the centre's third major anchor tenant. Agents Blackburn & Lockwood were instrumental in securing tenants for the centres' smaller stores.On 2 March 1964, after over 6 years of planning and protracted delays, a press conference to re-announce the centre's opening was held. Here, it was revealed that the centre would officially open in 4 months time – and that existing buildings were to be reconfigured to allow its new tenants. Several promotional/charity events were staged at the centre in weeks leading up to the official launch, including an archery demonstration, a fundraiser display of models worth £50,000, and a Motorkhana exhibition in the car park.