This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE AFL’s Melbourne Football Club remains set on moving its headquarters to Caulfield Racecourse, even after the Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) sold off 7.5-hectares of land at the venue for $195 million to Mount Scopus Memorial College for a new school campus.
The Melbourne Football Club has been exploring a move from its current home at AAMI Park and Gosch’s Paddock in Richmond and the development of a $100 million training and administration base at Caulfield Racecourse, a few kilometres south-east, in the City of Glen Eira.
“We welcome the announcement that Mount Scopus Memorial College intend to be our neighbour, building a new campus adjacent to Caulfield Racecourse,” outgoing Melbourne CEO Gary Pert said yesterday.
“It’s important to clarify that the club and Mount Scopus sites are separate parcels of land, that may result in us being neighbours in the future.
“The Melbourne Football Club are currently preparing a business plan that is based on our facility and our two training ovals all being built on the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve Trust land.”
“We see incredible potential in working alongside the community and community-based organisations, including Mount Scopus, to create meaningful synergies and mutual benefits for both communities and to enhance the Glen Eira area.”
Melbourne Football Club would need to raise $70 million from governments, the Melbourne Cricket Club and private investors, and fundraising to fund its new facility, The Age has previously reported.
The land transaction sees Mount Scopus acquire the site on the western perimeter of Caulfield Racecourse, running from Station Street all the way south to Glen Eira College. It has been effectively unused since horse training at Caulfield Racecourse finished in 2021.
The transaction completely wipes the MRC’s $165 million debt.
“This move strategically positions the MRC to reduce its debt and invest in future initiatives designed to benefit its members,” MRC chairman John Kanga told Australian Property Journal.
“The MRC remains involved in the Melbourne Football Club’s business sale phase and is working to ensure that the interests of racing – central to the Reserve’s purpose – are protected throughout this process.”
Kanga and the new MRC committee intend to retain racing at Sandown Racecourse, bring an end to plans for a new grandstand at Caulfield, and shift the racecourse’s mounting yard back to in front of the grandstand.
Mount Scopus said its new purpose-built campus that will bring together the school’s three existing campuses in Burwood, Caulfield South and St Kilda, along with a new “Centre for Jewish Life”. The new campus will include a new sports precinct and wellbeing centre, with a sports oval, gym, pool and recreation facilities, all within the school grounds; a centre for adult education; a centre for creative arts, including a performing arts complex; a synagogue; and spaces for community organisations.
The College’s quest to bring together its campuses in the heart of Caulfield, in a region home to Australia’s biggest Jewish community, began a decade ago and has received bipartisan support at state and federal levels.
Consultation for the campus is underway and will continue over the next two years. Construction will most likely be staged, with the first facilities expected to be operational by 2030.
“This project represents an exciting new chapter for our school and community. As Mount Scopus celebrates its 75th anniversary, we have an opportunity to create something special for Melbourne’s Jewish community and ensure its continuity and strength long into the future,” said Amy Hershan, president of Mount Scopus Memorial College.
Nine Media had reported in June that Mount Scopus was pushing for a land-swap deal with Victoria’s Allan government to move its campuses to the Caulfield Hospital site.
