Business defies the global gloom

By Melissa Grant
BIG business is about to boom in Pakenham, bucking the trend of slowing industrial and commercial activity from the global economic crisis.
Car dealers are on their way to the freeway, a Bunnings Warehouse is set to open on the highway and plans are afoot for a homemaker centre which is expected to attract some of Australia’s big retail names.
Harris Freer Toyota has started construction on a dealership in the South East Business Park on the Pakenham Bypass, where Berwick Nissan has also acquired a site.
Facey Industrial commercial director Josh Kendall said the agency was also in discussions with another car dealership group which had expressed interest in the business park.
On the other side of town, work has begun on a Bunnings Warehouse on a 2.9 hectare site.
The store, on the Princes Highway opposite the Lakeside Estate, is expected to open in September and developers will soon reveal which national retailer will join them at the site.
Mr Kendall said Facey Industrial was currently marketing a parcel of land opposite the Bunnings development, in front of Cardinia Life.
“Plans are being developed for an exciting venture to complement that development (Bunnings),” he said.
Mr Kendall said Facey Industrial had so far sold 24 blocks in the South East Business Park, a 164-hectare development adjacent to the Pakenham Bypass between McGregor and Healesville-Kooweerup roads.
Buyers joining Harris Freer Toyota and Berwick Nissan include car component company Expert Installs and prominent developers Lepat and Beacon Constructions. Distribution network Asixa Logical Outcome has already moved in.
Mr Kendall said although the industrial land sales had generally quietened, the South East Business Park was defying this trend.
He said the proximity of the business park to the freeway and Pakenham’s employment base were sparking the interest, with most inquiries coming from businesses based in Dandenong South, Hallam and Berwick.
Mr Kendall said a large site had been set aside for the South East Mega Homemaker Centre in the South East Business Park.
Cardinia Shire Council chief executive Garry McQuillan flagged his intention to attract big retailers Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi to the homemaker centre, during last year’s CEO address.
The homemaker centre is expected to open in March 2010.