The Moonee Valley Racing Club has revealed plans for a massive $2 billion urban lifestyle precinct, adding retail and residential elements and transforming the track into one of the "world's greatest nighttime racing venues".
The Moonee Valley Racing Club has appointed superannuation fund Hostplus and property developer Hamton to redevelop the racecourse into an integrated urban precinct.
Around nine hectares of the 40-hectare site owned by Moonee Valley Racing Club will be available for development by the Hostplus-Hamton venture. The proposed masterplan of the urban precinct will be refined over the next 12 months and will likely include opportunities for mixed-use and medium- to high-density residential development with building heights of up to 25-storeys allowed within central parts of the site.
The racetrack will be realigned, widened and the home straight extended from the current 173 metres to 317 metres. Payments by the Hostplus-Hamton venture to the club will facilitate the construction of the club’s new grandstand and racetrack.
The site has already been rezoned to a modern urban precinct with a combination of activity centre zoning and mixed-use zoning.
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“The redevelopment will see MVRC cement its position as one of the world’s premier racing clubs and will reinvigorate the Valley as an iconic Melbourne destination of the 21st century," Hostplus chief executive David Elia said.
"This investment will also complement our diversified portfolio and deliver strong risk-adjusted returns to members over the long-term.”
The new urban precinct site is six kilometres from Melbourne’s CBD and a short walk from Moonee Ponds rail station.
Hamton chairman Paul Hameister said the redevelopment of the entire Moonee Racing site will be considered as an integrated precinct that provides "a great place to live, work and visit, with new public parks and facilities, food and beverage, complementary retail, innovative work-spaces and world class residential homes.
“Part of the masterplan refinement over the coming months will include engagement with key stakeholders, including the community, to learn more about local priorities for Moonee Valley,” Hameister said.
A new network of public spaces will also be created within the racecourse precinct to provide a diversity of open space for the local community to enjoy.
The permit for the first stage of the urban development is expected to be lodged early in 2018, and construction for the entire masterplanned development is expected occur in stages over the next 20 years.
