Sandown redeveloped as a housing estate.

[stevo qld]

New suburb flagged as Melbourne Racing Club reveals Sandown redevelopment

JARED LYNCH
REPORTER
@jaredm_lynch

12:17PM MARCH 24, 2022


Melbourne Racing Club has proposed to build a new suburb – with a population almost the size of Wangaratta – on its ageing Sandown Race Course under a $3.5bn plan.

The racing club has submitted its long-anticipated application to rezone Sandown Racecourse, located 25 kilometres southeast of Melbourne's CBD, for residential use to Dandenong Council.

The track – Melbourne's only metropolitan racecourse built in the 20th century and which includes a motor raceway – is popular with trainers, but not with crowds, with the facility burning a $5m hole in Melbourne Racing Club's balance sheet each year.

Club chief executive Josh Blanksby is yet to say if racing will continue at the track under the redevelopment, which could include a combination of scaled-down racing, housing and retail.

But if the 112 hectare site is fully redeveloped, it would cost $3.5bn over 20 years and include 7500 homes – including affordable housing – for 16,000 people. It would also feature 12,000 square metres of retail space and 8000 square metres of non-retail commercial use, creating 595 ongoing jobs.

Meanwhile, 3.5 hectares has been earmarked for a school and community centre.

Melbourne Racing Club had been sweating on submitting the proposal but after the Andrews government backflipped on the windfall tax, it gave it the confidence to proceed.

"It was good the government recognised that we have been going through this process – we flagged our interest in rezoning this land back in 2015 – so they recognised that it wasn't supposed to be retrospective tax," Mr Blanksby said.

But development of existing green wedges, like golf courses and other sporting grounds, is controversial, and in the past 20 years has ignited a gold rush of developers. More than half a dozen clubs have been persuaded to make way for housing estates, with Doncaster's Eastern Golf Club, which covers 47 hectares, sold for $100m in 2011.

While attracting some community opposition, city planners say developing suburban infill sites, such as golf courses and old factories which are close to existing infrastructure, will be vital to limiting Melbourne's urban sprawl as the population soars from 5 million to around 8 million by 2050.

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For Sandown, Mr Blanksby said the project will require approvals and consultation from Dandenong Council, Melbourne Racing Club Members and Racing Victoria. If fully redeveloped, at least 14 per cent of the racecourse will be kept as open space.

While he said it was too early to speculate on what the site might be worth, the proceeds will be used to help fund a $300m redevelop its principal racecourse at Caulfield, located nine kilometres from Melbourne's CBD.

Also weighing on the club is what is fast becoming a crowded sports wagering market, which has traditionally been the main source of income for Sandown.

"That's one of the things that racing has always enjoyed in its history, this sort of monopoly on betting and that's shifting," Mr Blanksby said.

"And so racing needs to make sure it's looking after itself and my view is that the Melbourne Racing Club is being quite proactive is doing this at a time when we are financially strong, rather than doing a reactive time when it's too late and you're rushing to do things,"

"I'd rather be in a position that we know what we can do in the land holdings and we can give options on that and then people can make educated decisions."

To this end, the redevelopment is similar to the consolidation of AFL grounds to drive more investment at stadiums closer to the CBD. Waverley Park, which was built in the 1960s – at a similar time to Sandown and location, with a capacity of 72,000 – was designed to cater for what was expected to become the demographic centre of Melbourne as residents rushed to the outer suburbs mid last century.

But the CBD became popular again, and with new housing developments on the opposite side of the city, the demographic centre shifted closer to the centre of Melbourne again, leading to AFL to sell Waverley Park to Mirvac in 2000 to create a mini-suburb and fund the construction of a new football ground at Docklands, now called Marvel Stadium.

Waverley Park has kept its main grandstand and field, which is used as a training ground by the Hawthorn Football Club, with houses taking up the rest of the 85 hectare site.

"In a post Covid world, everybody should be looking at all their cost base and saying okay, well, is this the most efficient way to run the sport?" Mr Blanksby said.

"Other sports, AFL predominantly and cricket, have moved to less grounds and those grounds are a lot better.

"We think the investment in Caulfield is really important ... and you can't keep all these racetracks in pristine condition. It's just an inefficient model."

JARED LYNCHREPORTER
Jared Lynch is a business reporter with a career spanning 15 years across national publications. Jared is based in Melbourne and writes on agribusiness, healthcare and gaming. He also has extensive experience i... Read more

I qupted the whole article as it may be behind a paywall.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/new-suburb-flagged-as-melbourne-racing-club-reveals-sandown-redevelopment/news-story/e65d010c570e5c7d0e0d2c2ced99c643

[murph_fan51]

Can they at least build a replica Sandown racetrack somewhere? Like they said might happen to Oran Park many years ago.

[skaifeman]

It's always been a matter of time. The horse racing side of things is what has been clutching on for so long.
Damn shame.

[stevo qld]

Can they at least build a replica Sandown racetrack somewhere? Like they said might happen to Oran Park many years ago.

(From afar!) For decades, read that as the previous century,  I don't think that they have showed any real interest in the Motor Racing track apart from getting some income where possible. The promotion has often been by lessees or track renters for some time and, apparently, they still lose money. I can't see the horsy mob wanting to build another Motor Racing circuit.

As for the gee-gee's, i gather they already have another track that is profitable.

Motor Racing tracks have been sold or emasculated for years, including my favorites Surfers, Lakeside, Warwick Farm, Oran Park, Amaroo, Calder, Arthur Park, Archerfield Speedway (the old one) and Mackay Dragstrip (the old one), and even the Ekka, Redcliffe, Strathpine and Lowood.

As long as we have misguided Governments willing to plow money into temporary tracks instead of full time tracks that provide so many training and social needs for the people. Motor racing Fans are definitely in a minority, in spite of the indications with the recent SA change.

There is still a need for housing close to the city for Victorians who decide not to move interstate.

[the undertaker]

Same thing happening in my home town, Pukekohe.

[skaifeman]

Same thing happening in my home town, Pukekohe.

Is Pukey looking under threat?

[the undertaker]

Yep, so the whisper goes

[Troy01505]

Yep, so the whisper goes

Seems most older tracks are under threat as housing land is worth much more.