Strategic Northern Melbourne Farmland Comes to Market

Australia’s leading industrial and logistics property managers are expected to join a diverse group of investors looking to pick up 40ha of farming land, slightly more than a kilometre from a planned major freight terminal north of Melbourne.

The 37.79ha parcel at 2451 Epping-Kilmore Road in Wallan is almost next to the proposed Beveridge Intermodal Freight Terminal—destined to be among the biggest freight hubs in the country.

The privately owned property is being brokered by LAWD real estate agent under an expression-of-interest campaign.

Late last month the Federal government completed its of 1100ha in Beveridge, about 45km north of the Victorian capital, intending to develop an $1.62-billion intermodal freight terminal for Melbourne’s Inland Rail project.

The Beveridge Intermodal Freight Terminal, or BIFT, is one of two key freight hubs being proposed in Victoria.  Truganina—20km west of the city centre—is the other.  The two terminals will provide critical support to the government’s long-term strategy to move freight from road to rail.

LAWD Director Paul Callanan said the fully integrated terminal was expected to be operational by 2028-29, enabling freight services to operate across Melbourne and through to Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

“This site offers an exceptional land banking opportunity based on the strength of the industrial market and the importance of freight services in the context of supply chain security,” he said. 

The site has a 450m frontage to Epping-Kilmore Road, and access to the Hume Freeway.

Callanan would not be drawn on what the strategically positioned property might fetch on the market, but recent sales in the area suggest it could go for up to $15 million.

▲ Land around the multi-billion-dollar inland rail project, and particular that near a freight terminal, is likely to be much sought-after by investors.

Twelve months ago the Mitchell Shire Council—one of the fastest-growing municipalities in Victoria—announced the Federal government had agreed to provide $280 million for critical infrastructure in the area, including the Camerons Lane Interchange on the Hume Freeway.

The shire said at the time the interchange would unlock more than 30,000 homes, and along with the freight terminal, support up to 20,000 jobs.

“That’s a critical piece of infrastructure,”  Callanan told The Urban Developer.

“And all of these commitments from Federal government seem to be putting a real focus on this area.

“We've had a variety of interest from both medium-scale and large-scale private developers, investors as well as syndicates looking at it. So, it's been a broad mix of prospective purchasers.”

In April this year a scathing review of the 1700km Inland Rail project revealed massive cost blowouts, lengthy delays and a management team without the necessary skills for the job.

The report by Australia’s former Energy Security Board chairperson Dr Kerry Schott said the cost of the federally funded project—which will build a continuous freight line from Queensland to Victoria—has almost doubled in the past two years, and now tallies $31.4 billion.

However, Schott’s report made clear the two Victorian freight terminals were long overdue.

A Victorian government spokesperson was equally clear that Truganina and Beveridge were both needed “to deliver better outcomes for Victorian businesses and the community”.

The Victorian government included $6.1 million in its 2022-23 budget for planning of the Western Interstate Freight Terminal (WIFT) as the priority location.

The expressions-of-interest campaign for the Walla farmland closes on July 19.