BATHURST is on the brink of another retail boom with a $3.5 million redevelopment of the vacant Masters building at Kelso approved by Bathurst Regional Council.
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Home Consortium – a group of wealthy Australian business people who last year bought 61 failing Masters stores from Woolworths in a deal worth $800 million – plans to convert the Kelso site to nine bulky goods stores and a small cafe.
A statement of environmental effects (SEE) lodged with Bathurst Regional Council shows store sizes within the proposed redevelopment of the Pat O’Leary Drive complex range from 246 square metres to almost 2500 square metres.
All the new stores would be housed within the massive 11,355 square metre Masters shell, with the developers also planning to enclose an existing garden centre at the northern end of the building.
JB Hi-Fi, Chemist Warehouse and Anaconda camping are among the big-name retailers believed to be in negotiations with Home Consortium to take up tenancies within Masters redevelopments across the country, though none has yet been confirmed for the Kelso site.
Management consultants Urbis, who prepared the SEE, state the Kelso site has been identified as a priority development for Home Consortium and represents a boost for the Bathurst region.
“Importantly, the proposal will retain employment on the site and provide for approximately 150 to 200 operational jobs, in addition to employment created during construction,” the statement to council reads.
“This is a significant social and economic benefit for Bathurst, particularly given that Masters was vacated in early December.”
The statement says Urbis and Home Consortium held a pre-lodgment meeting with council staff in December which indicated council supported “the change of use to bulky goods premises and hardware and building supplies”.
The developers do not anticipate a marked increase in traffic to the new development compared to when Masters was there and say there will be no increase to the overall gross floor area within the complex.
The Home Consortium includes Melbourne-based Chemist Warehouse owners Mario Verrochi and Jack Gance and retail rich-listers Zac Fried and Morry Fraid who own the Anaconda and Spotlight stores.
It is being led by UBS banker David Di Pilla, who is a major investor, along with his parents-in-law Mary and Alex Shaw, and Greg Hayes.
Others chipping in are UBS directors Robbie Vanderzeil and Matthew Grounds.
