More than 160 new jobs are expected to be created when the former Braybrook Masters store is redeveloped into a new shopping centre.
Plans for the new centre, submitted to Maribyrnong council and estimated to cost $4 million, follow the spectacular crash of the home hardware chain.
The first Masters store opened in Australia in 2011. The Braybrook store ceased trading last Sunday, with the loss of 130 full-time equivalent jobs.
Plans by Home Consortium Company for a new supermarket, cafe and other retail stores are predicted to create 165 new jobs.
An economic impact assessment for the project at 330 Ballarat Road revealed the proposed redevelopment will comprise a 4275squaremetre supermarket, understood to be Woolworths, along with 6842square metres of retail and a 100square metre cafe.
The redevelopment is expected to take six months with the new centre’s opening scheduled for mid next year.
“Braybrook Masters site … presents as a good opportunity for a new supermarket development, particularly in an area where many of the supermarkets are dated and relatively small,” the assessment found.
The report also suggested the supermarket and retails stores could draw about $28.5 million in sales per year from surrounding areas, particularly Sunshine, qualifying this as a “modest” and acceptable impact.
“The impacts are broadly distributed, with no single centre or retailer anticipated to be heavily affected,” it stated.
“The development will enhance the range and choice available to residents in the area by providing an additional full-line supermarket, as well as large-format retail stores, drawing residents from a broad area.”
The assessment found many of the new jobs would be filled by local residents, a boon in an area of high unemployment.
