By ALESHA CAPONE
A FORUM encouraging some of Melbourne’s most prolific commercial developers to invest in Sunshine’s CBD was held at the Eureka Tower in Southbank on Friday.
KPMG partner Bernard Salt, a trend forecaster for business and government, was the event’s keynote speaker.
Mr Salt said people looking for somewhere “to park their money” should consider Sunshine’s town centre between 2015 and 2025.
“I think Toorak will be Toorak for another 50 years but Sunshine is changing – and it’s business acumen to know how it’s changing,” Mr Salt said.
Mr Salt said although he could outline how an area would change and what population trends could emerge he could not tell business people exactly what to invest in.
He said in the coming decade, there would be growth in demand for services for the five to 15-year-old age group in Brimbank, in addition to residents classed as singles, couples or downsizing.
He advised the session’s attendees it would be their role “to find a product and sell to the aspirational market” in Brimbank.
Mr Salt said the traditional character of Brimbank was moving away from its working class origins and the “goat’s cheese curtain” – or “latte line” – was extending in the West from Footscray, Yarraville and Williamstown.
“That’s my point, I actually see the goat’s cheese curtain shifting West to Sunshine along the railway line,” he said.
Mr Salt said this would see the suburb’s culture become more diverse and eclectic, perhaps encouraging the 20 to 24-year-olds who traditionally moved out of the area and closer to the city to remain as residents in the future.
The investment forum’s MC, urban planner Roz Hansen, said land in Brimbank was still “relatively affordable” compared to other urban areas.
“I say to you get in the market now while land is cheap,” she told the audience.
Chair of the Brimbank City Council administrators, Jon Watson, said the council has been rezoning land and streamlining planning approval processes to make investment in Sunshine easier.
“Sunshine is open for business so come and join us,” he said.
