BUNNINGS Warehouse is likely to open its doors in Pakenham in September, with builders starting work on the store this week.
And negotiations are underway to bring another national retailer to the 2.9 hectare site on the Princes Highway, opposite the Lakeside estate.
Bunnings Pakenham is expected to provide jobs for 120 people and will feature an outdoor nursery and enclosed timber sales area.
The $15 million retail dev-elopment will also boast 300 car parks.
Bunnings’ general manager of property Matt Toohey said the company would announce what retailer would join them at the precinct in the coming weeks.
“We are talking to a national retailer who hasn’t fully committed to the site,” he said.
Bunnings will take up 7,400 sq m of the 11,700 sq m development.
Mr Toohey said Bunnings was pleased to be opening a store to service the Pakenham community.
“Pakenham’s a growth area and we spend a lot of time researching areas … we see Pakenham as one of those emerging residential areas as in need of those (home improvement) services,” he said.
Mr Toohey said Bunnings hoped its Pakenham store would open to the public in September, but that depended on weather.