Mildura mega block could become 500 houses

A Mildura mega block spanning more than 35ha that could be turned into 500 houses could be sold offshore for millions.

The monster site at 678-766 Riverside Ave, Mildura, is possibly the largest ever sold in the regional city and could earn as much as $5 million, amid more than $1 billion of international investment in the region.

Professionals Mildura managing director Tony Roccisano says a shortage of houses in the region would ensure high demand for the site being sold as surplus by Lower Murray Water.

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“I don’t think there’s ever been anything that big,” Roccisano says.

“There’s a lot of demand for housing and the rental market is very strong.

We have a housing shortage — investors are getting 7% returns

“I’ve had inquiries from both locals and internationals so far.”

He estimated the 35.6ha site could accommodate up to 500 houses once developed, and its price could rise to $4-$5 million.

“I wouldn’t be surprised at that level. There’s a huge demand for housing,” he says.

“This is one of the fastest growing regional cities in Victoria.”

The Riverside Ave property is on the fringe of the city’s development hubs.

Mildura’s median house price is $265,000.

A statement from Lower Murray Water reveals the land being sold already changed hands in 2015, but that the successful buyer had withdrawn their offer.

It has been vacant for some years and is no longer of operational value to the government body, though it is not common for them to sell large parcels of land, the statement concludes.

Mildura Regional Development chief executive Daryl Buckingham says on the international front Mildura has seen a “hell of a lot of investment”, particularly in the agricultural business sector.

International interests are developing everything from wineries to abattoirs and olive groves in the region.

“If you add it all up, it’s around about $1 billion — and growing,” Buckingham says.

That interest was mostly from Asian nations including China and Singapore, but that there was also Spanish money flowing into the local solar industry.

This is one of the fastest growing regional cities in Victoria

“There’s a fair bit of development going on with the housing situation cooling in Melbourne and Sydney,” Buckingham says.

“We have a housing shortage — investors are getting 7% returns.”

Some of those investing in the regions agricultural businesses are also building houses to accommodate workers, while those building a new house could lease it in the space of 24 hours as far as four weeks before it was completed.

Buckingham says the city’s fortunes have turned around dramatically since the Millennium Drought, with advanced irrigation systems making it a world leader second only to Israel in water management.

The Riverside Ave development site also comes with liquid appeal, looking across Lake Hawthorn.

This article from the Herald Sun originally appeared as “Mildura mega block: 35 ha Lower Murray Water surplus block could earn millions”.