Melbourne Development Firm Announces $1.7 Billion Business Park In Craigieburn

Melbourne based construction and development firm JTX International has announced a $1.7 billion Craigieburn business park and homemaker centre development which will deliver nearly 150,000 sqm of retail, office, medical, hotel and entertainment facilities on a 32 hectare site.

Named Humex, the development will be located at 650 Hume Highway and Hume City Council is confident it will become an “iconic built form at the (northern) gateway to the city.”

According to JTX Chief Executive Anthony Elcheikh, Humex is designed to support the long term growth of the local community.

“The city of Hume is one of the fastest growing municipalities in Australia and will be one of the largest growth corridors in Victoria over the next 10-20 years,” he said.

“That enormous growth will require a level of services equal to that of a large regional centre, and Humex is designed to deliver that.”

The development would also deliver a major economic boost for Hume with the creation of more than 5,000 jobs both during construction and with the opening of new Humex businesses.

The building materials display centre, according to Mr Elcheikh, will be the largest in the southern hemisphere with over five levels of more than 3000 demonstration and display suites offering fixtures and fittings, furniture, electrical, plumbing, hire equipment and gardening products.

The medical centre will offer four floors of state-of- the-art surgical and allied healthcare space while the circa 11,000 sqm indoor play and entertainment centre will also be the largest in the southern hemisphere with bounce, fly, climb and water play facilities, childcare, a bowling alley and indoor courts.

Mr Elcheikh said Humex had been seven years in the making, with Hume council granting a permit for the site in November in 2015.

"A project like this takes an enormous amount of planning but from the outset our philosophy has been about creating a sense of place and community as well as a distinctive, aesthetically pleasing, built form that adds to the liveability of the City of Hume whilst providing a national model for a state-of- the-art mixed use development.

"Ultimately we believe we have designed a unique, one-stop destination development that is worthy of landmark status, will support the needs of the rapidly growing local population, and that will attract custom from right across Melbourne and indeed the country,’’ he said.

The development will also offer key support to the local community by providing banks, a post office, service station and convenience shopping. Travellers on the Hume Highway will also benefits from  Humex's offerings as the plans involve providing the only fully signalised intersection, both north and southbound, on the Hume Highway.

Humex intends to reach completion by 2018.

Concept images courtesy JTX International.

Fast facts
Humex will include:

• A 56,000 square metre building materials display centre;
• A massive indoor play and entertainment centre;
• A 12 level, international hotel with 285 rooms;
• A 7000 square metre medical centre including day surgery;
• Mixed use commercial with supermarket, retail and offices components;
• 50,000 square metres of bulky goods and showroom retail;
• 40 “business nursery” warehouse units;
• A convenience retail and service station, and,
• Parking for 2756 cars and 252 bicycles.