DEVELOPERS and land owners are rubbing their hands with excitement at the prospect of a roundabout being developed at the Avenue of Honour in Bacchus Marsh, north-west of Melbourne.

Large tracts of used and disused farmland in the pockets around the proposed new road - including around Hopetoun Park, Parwan and Pentland Hills - are expected to be redeveloped as housing estates in coming years.

Tenders closed for one such site this week: the massive 168 hectare Underbank Stud Farm.

DESPITE evidence government grants unnecessarily inflate up real estate values, the Victorian State Government is using them again, as a carrot leading to the November 13 election.

Below is a statement about the initiative, by the HIA, which includes exact values about the new grants available.

A NEW $200 million office building will be developed in Adelaide, after the Australian Taxation Office agreed to be anchor tenant.

The ATO, which also recently anchor tenanted a Melbourne building some say it didn’t need, will occupy 30,000 square metres of a building at Franklin Street, being developed by Western Australian based Aspen Group.

Aspen’s Tower 8 project will be bound by Waymouth, King William Flinders and Bentham streets, according to Adelaide Now, which announced the deal yesterday.

VICTORIAN Road minister Tim Pallas has named development consortium Southern Way will build the controversial Peninsula Link freeway.

The $759 million contract - for a freeway some say does not need to be built because there isn't a population to support it - will stretch 27 kilometres from Carrum Downs, to Mt Martha, and includes 11 road connections, more than 35 bridges, 18,000 square metres of retaining wall and public art.

It is due for completion in early 2013.

THERE'S a sad day each year when home owners are delivered what might be their most misunderstood bill - the council rates notice.

Council rates are calculated using your property's valuation and a rate in the dollar your council has budgeted as your contribution. Statewide (Victoria), the average rates bill for all properties -residential, commercial, industrial or farming – was $1135 two years ago.

THE People’s Republic of China has emerged as the buyer of a brand new, 80 square Toorak mansion.
 
It’s speculated an education division of the Chinese government will use the new four-storey, six bedroom mansion for administrative and teaching purposes, and to accommodate ambassadors – but this could not be confirmed with the consulate, which failed to return numerous calls.

AS part of its plan to build a $90 million bus depot, the Brisbane City Council has paid $16.5 million for a major development site at 496 Sherwood Road, Sherwood.

The former Index Park site, which measures 7.8 hectares, will play an important part in the redevelopment, and accommodate 200 additional bus services.

Expressions of interest for the terminal are being sought, and construction is expected to start soon, according to the AFR which reported the sale today.

PARKS Victoria is selling the rights to manage one of the Mornington Peninsula’s biggest, yet most ill-fated tourist attractions – the Arthurs Seat Chairlift.
 
Parks is looking for an operator to design, construct, run and maintain the new tourist hub – which would replace the existing 1960 facility, which shut in 2006 after a string of safety faults left holiday-makers injured, stranded, or both.
 
Up for grabs is a 950-metre chairlift path, and associated tracts of land at each end of the 305-metre summit, which previously supported a small thriving retail centre.
 

RESIDENTS in Becton’s posh One East Melbourne glass tower have won a battle to have their suburb name changed.
 
At a meeting last week, the Melbourne City Council approved a recommendation to shift the East Melbourne suburb boundary west, to include apartments and an office between 227 – 293 Wellington Parade South, which would have previously been considered Melbourne, 3000, and arguably be worth a lot less.

VICURBAN is proceeding with plans to build a major office building, and two apartment developments on a prominent, but disused 1.3 hectare block, abutting the Footscray train station, in Melbourne’s inner west.
 
The government’s sustainable land development arm is calling for submissions to develop three sites around McNab Avene, a former bowling green bound by the Footscray Market, Victoria University, and two train lines.
 
Government agencies, believed to be State Trustees and City West Water, will fully occupy the 15,000 square metre office, while the apartment towers, one of which could rise some 14-levels, will be a mix of traditional “own your own” units, student accommodation and affordable housing.

THE Victorian government is looking for a 14,000 square metre office to house the Department of Treasury and Finance.

The CBD office leasing requirement is the latest in the string for the government, which has also in recent weeks also sought new offices for Melbourne Water (10,000 square metres) and the Australian Taxation Office (25,000 square metres).

Lend Lease Corporation Limited (“Lend Lease”) today announced its subsidiary, Bovis Lend Lease Pty Limited (“Bovis Lend Lease”), as part of the Momentum consortium which includes CLM Infrastructure and Veolia Water Network Services, has been appointed to deliver the A$900 million Sydney Water Watermains Program.

The program, which has a contract value of circa A$340 million for Bovis Lend Lease, will commence on 1 July 2009 and will extend for an initial four-year period with a further three-year option.

The Momentum consortium will be responsible for a significant proportion of Sydney Water’s planned capital works program, including replacing pipes in areas which have a history of leaks and breaks in order to ensure the reliability and efficiency of the water network. The consortium will be involved in all aspects of design and program management, including planning, design, construction and contract management.

Bovis Lend Lease Australia Chief Executive Officer, Mr Tony Costantino, said: “Bovis Lend Lease’s ability to work with alliance partners to deliver complex projects, combined with our expertise in program management, safety, water and wastewater infrastructure, were key factors in being appointed.

“The contract to deliver the Sydney Water Watermains Program adds to our portfolio of work in the water infrastructure sector and builds on Bovis Lend Lease’s long standing relationship with Sydney Water, the New South Wales Government and our alliance partners,” he added.

All three consortium members are currently partners in the Networks Alliance consortium, which has successfully delivered the Watermains Program under the previous four year contract, currently in its final year.

The Property Council of Australia has criticised advertisements by the Local Government Association of NSW and Shires Association of NSW calling on the NSW Government to delay reforms which would stop councils hoarding taxpayers’ money as a misguided attempt to preserve an unsustainable and unfair funding system.

Melbourne City Council may have found a way to retire some of its ballooning debt, confirming this week it would put a prime Bourke Street shop and office building on the market.

Property industry groups and real estate agents were disappointed Tuesday’s State Budget didn’t bring cuts in Stamp Duty, particularly for first home buyers.