This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
A MAJOR town centre site offering up to 200,000 sqm of developable retail floor space in Melbourne is on the market.
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The town centre has the potential to yield up to 200,000 sqm of developable floor space, including two discount department stores; two full sized supermarkets; two mini majors; approximately 100 specialty shops and food courts.
In addition to these there will be further ancillary uses including a hotel complex; cinema; office accommodation; bulky goods, together with some high-density residential.
The site is located within the recently released Rockbank North PSP, which comprises 700ha of developable land. The project is backed by Mirvac and Malaysian developer VIP, who are developing the Woodlea master planned community, which will comprise 7,000 housing lots and accommodate some 20,000 residents.
Biggin & Scott Land`s Frank Nagle and Andrew Egan are selling the site via a public expression of interest campaign, closing on June 11.
Egan said the offering is probably the most strategic undeveloped major town centre site in Metropolitan Melbourne.
“Being alongside Caroline Springs, and adjoining the burgeoning Plumpton corridor and only 29 kilometres for the city, with established rail, and road networks at the doorstep all that was missing was a fully integrated shopping experience, which this site will eventually provide,” he added.
Nagle said the current owners, Mirvac and VIP, recognised that the development of the land now required the expertise of a major retail developer and as such now that the planning risk had been overcome they were prepared to sell.
“We expect both local and international interest in the site, we believe it will suit overseas parties as it has no planning risk and offered enormous upside of the development cycle” Egan said.
“All of these uses form part of a detailed “space analysis” undertaken by The Buchan Group, and accord with the guidelines set out in the PSP Document,” Strata PNA Architects principal planning advisor Patrick Ng said.
“Our firm has over seen the PSP Planning process for our clients, and in his 20 years’ experience he had not seen an opportunity for the creation of a fully integrated Town Centre site in Metropolitan Melbourne.
“The last two sites in this region were Water Gardens in Keilor and Wood Grove in Melton, both of which are now fully developed, so the offering of Rockbank North is timely,” Ng said.
Australian Property Journal
