CommercialHarrison CaithnessTue 06 Oct 26
MAB’s Airport-Adjacent $3.3bn Business Park Rezoned
The Victorian Planning Authority has rezoned 778ha of greenfield land adjacent to Avalon Airport to a part industrial, part conservation zone.
MAB’s $3.3 billion development at the Greater Avalon Employment Precinct on Wadawurrung land, about 12km northeast of Geelong and 50km southwest of Melbourne, will be Australia’s largest single-owner freehold business park.
The $17-billion-portfolio developer’s state-significant precinct forms the western portion of a 3400ha plan, and is expected to deliver up to 8000 jobs.
Just under two-thirds (110ha) of endangered and vulnerable coastal saltmarsh will be retained and protected in a rural conservation zone.
The remaining 37 per cent native vegetation will be removed to make way for development.
Ten threatened and migratory bird species were identified in the precinct as being moderately or highly likely to have habitat there, as well as the vulnerable Golden Sun Moth.
Most of the northern portion of the precinct is farmland or has been grazed, and is covered by non-native grasses and weeds.
The site is bounded by the international Avalon Airport (east), the arterial Princes Highway (north), the Port Phillip Bay Coastal Reserve (south) and Avalon Road (west).
MAB chief executive officer David Hall said the project was “uniquely positioned” next to Avalon Airport and “exceptional freight connectivity” to become an employment and logistics powerhouse.
“We now have a clear pathway for investment, business growth and thousands of future employment opportunities that will benefit the region for decades to come,” Hall said.
The precinct falls inside the Avalon Corridor, a 2022 strategy plotted by state government and Greater Geelong and Wyndham city councils for 30,000ha between Werribee and Geelong over three decades.
MAB anticipates a multi-decade project and expects businesses to open at Greater Avalon Stage 1 in 2029 and 2030.
In August, MAB put Stage 1 of its 77ha Frontera business park at Cranbourne East on the market.
MAB’s The Gasworks at inner city Adelaide suburb Brompton for 800 homes, a hotel, offices and a heritage retail precinct is under way.
The South Australian government has approved remediation works 25km south of Adelaide at the former Port Stanvac Refinery for MAB’s 3600-home and 60ha business park “South Beach” development.
