A Melbourne venue once full of shops and restaurants — and which used to be a trendy place to hang out — has now been dubbed “creepy” and “scary”.
The Jam Factory on Chapel St in South Yarra began operating as a shopping centre in 1979 and over the decades was busy with shoppers, diners and movie-goers.
But now only Village Cinemas remains, with the rest of the building dubbed a ghost town.
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“It’s my local cinema and I get the creeps every time,” one person wrote on X.
“I caught a movie here the other day and I felt like I was trespassing,” another said.
Others just called it plain “scary”.
But that is set to change with plans for the factory to be demolished and rebuilt as part of a $2.75 billion makeover starting in 2025.
The plans involve five towers of apartments — including a penthouse set to cost $30 million — plus hotels and shops.
“It will bring in new business operators, it will bring in confidence into investing into Chapel St again,” Matt Lanigan from the Chapel St Precinct Association said.
The Village cinema is the only business confirmed to remain in the Jam Factory after construction. It will move to the ground floor.
The Jam Factory chimney will also remain and be rebuilt as part of the new piazza.
