Oreana has completed construction on a $70 million major new town centre in Melbourne’s northern growth suburb of Kalkallo, which will deliver critical social and economic infrastructure to thousands of new residents.

Located on a 2.1-hectare site on Toyon Road within the City of Hume, Kallo Town Centre has recently opened and spans 11,870 square metres (sqm) of gross lettable area, including a 3,000sqm childcare centre, 397sqm of office, and 2,000sqm earmarked for a future service station. The fully leased town centre includes a full-line Woolworths supermarket with a 12-year lease in place, Aspire Early Learning Centre, Snap Fitness 24/7 gym, and 20 specialty stores.

Specialty stores include Chemist Warehouse, Gibbs Family Bakehouse, an Indian restaurant, Nanak Indian Grocer, The Coffee Club, BWS and Thirsty Camel bottle stores, Domino’s, Paoletto’s Pizza, Tokyo Sushi Express, Infinity Skincare Clinic and Medical Select along with a range of other convenience offerings.

Kallo Town Centre services several masterplanned communities, including Stockland’s 5000-lot Cloverton development, with the main trade area forecast to service a future population of 380,000 across Melbourne’s outer northern suburbs, fuelling a predicted available retail expenditure of $159 million by 2031.

Oreana Group Managing Director Tony Sass said the completion of the Kallo Town Centre was a major milestone for Kalkallo and the surrounding suburbs, and a win for retailers, with the population of Hume and Whittlesea predicted to continue to increase by 15,000 people per year over the next decade.

“The success of greenfield developments and our major growth corridors is ultimately dependent on government and property groups committing to the delivery of key infrastructure and community amenity early in a project’s lifecycle,” Mr Sass said.

“We’re thrilled to deliver Kallo Town Centre and all its convenient retail offerings to the local community that is currently living without the luxury of convenience.

“Right now, some residents are driving up to 30 minutes to the nearest major supermarket, but with the new Kallo Town Centre now open, that commute will reduce significantly, with some locals just a short walk away from the centre.”

Kallo Town Centre has been carefully designed to deliver social, lifestyle and economic benefits to a fast-growing community.

“It’s also our largest town centre project to date and builds on the innovative centres we have previously developed in Melbourne’s growth corridors,” Mr Sass added.

“Opening a fully leased centre is testament to our team’s dedication to the local communities where we operate and shows that we’ve got the right design and retail mix.

“It has been years in the making and we’re proud to deliver this much-anticipated town centre to the people of Kalkallo and its surrounds.”

Mr Sass said the opening for the Kallo Town Centre has been staged with Woolworths Ferguson Plarre and Cignall the first cabs off the rank this month, to be followed by the specialty stores in the coming months.

Mr Sass said despite challenges in the property market, quality commercial assets that are strategically located, such as the Kallo Town Centre, would always be well placed to weather the storm. Stockland Development Director, James Hawker, said the Cloverton community was looking forward to the first retail shops opening.

“Stockland and Oreana have worked together, and with local councils, to make sure Cloverton residents and those in the surrounding area have convenient access to more daily essentials,” Mr Hawker said.