A new KFC outlet and a Shell service station will be highway lot occupiers, while elsewhere in the estate a childcare facility will be developed for the Little Zebras childcare group. 

The Blayney Group also plans to develop a major wholesale warehouse to sell and market its wide range of food service products.

Development director Bob Walsh, from Gateway Land Corporation, said that seven of the 14 lots in stage one of the project have been pre-sold, while a further three lots are currently in “advanced negotiation”. 

“It's comforting for a developer to get a certain number of pre-sales … not only because of the financial commitment, but also it ties into the design,” he said. 

He said stage one is set for completion in two weeks, with occupiers able to take possession in June. 

Construction of stage two, which will involve an additional five lots, has now commenced and will be completed by late 2019. 

Stage one and stage two make up just 25 per cent of the overall commercial sub-division, which has a site area of 25 hectares and nearly one-kilometre frontage to the Great Western Highway. 

Mr Walsh said retailers in stage one should be open by the second half of 2019. 

Planning has also started on stage three for a six-hectare industrial precinct at the rear of the estate. 

Mr Walsh said Bathurst was the ideal location for a development like Gateway, given its projected growth and proximity to Sydney. 

He said it is good to build infrastructure before the population hits the forecasts. 

“It’s good to be ahead of the game, so council has been very forward thinking in that,” he said. 

“Obviously the highway widening has been a major catalyst to this. We couldn’t have the entry we have without the highway being widened and a major roundabout put in to give us an A1 access point.”