Last of Williamstown rifle range to be developed
The last piece of Williamstown’s former Merrett Rifle Range will be developed as a $35 million housing estate.
Owner Stonehenge has launched it as Williams Cove, an eco-friendly, 32-townhouse development.
The waterfront site, 121-129 Kororoit Creek Road, forms the western edge of the ex-111 hectare rifle range which the state government development agency now know as VicUrban acquired from the federal government for $11.7 million in 1987.
The Williamstown property was used to hold shooting events at the 1956 Olympic Games.
It hadn’t operated, however, for more than a decade before it was master-planned for housing.
VicUrban sold 60ha to developers in the early 1990s.
Stonehenge director Mark Davis said it was one of the first to buy a parcel; at that time, the average subdivided block was selling for about $80,000.
One bay-view allotment traded $172,000, he added.
By comparison, today two or three-storey townhouses at Williams Cove are priced from $850,000.
Mr Davis expects construction to start in July.