West Footscray railway station earmarked for ‘rejuvenation’

The Napthine government has selected 10 Melbourne railway stations it wants to see rejuvenated with a mix of apartments, shops and offices in a project it estimates will generate $1 billion in investment and more than 3000 jobs in the next five years.

High-density housing projects are already under way at Jewell, Hampton and Alphington stations, and developments at seven other stations are being investigated – Essendon, Windsor, West Footscray, Victoria Park, East Richmond, Ringwood and Watsonia.

These stations have been chosen for redevelopment because they all have underused or derelict land that is owned by government corporation VicTrack, one of the state’s biggest landowners.

Premier Denis Napthine said the project was ”about taking advantage of underutilised government land and using the private sector, in partnership with government, to turn that land into a valuable asset for the community”.

A shortlist of contenders for the Jewell redevelopment was announced on Tuesday.