Bendigo Commercial Sites Open Up as Retail Demand Shifts

Construction crews broke ground last month on a 12,400-square-metre retail and office precinct at the Epsom interchange off the Calder Freeway, with the first tenancies due for handover in March 2027.

The project follows a 22 per cent rise in commercial land sales recorded by the City of Greater Bendigo between January and June this year. Developers say the timing aligns with national supply-chain changes that have pushed more operators to secure regional footprints before lease costs climb further.

Early tenants lock in space on High Street extension

Two local operators have already signed five-year leases at the Epsom site. Bendigo-based hardware supplier Central Tool Co. took 1,800 square metres for a new distribution showroom, while the family-owned bakery chain Bakehouse 3550 committed to a 320-square-metre outlet facing the freeway on-ramp. Both deals were completed in April at rents reported at $285 per square metre, below the $310 average now quoted for comparable space in the same corridor.

Further south, the View Street laneway precinct has seen three vacant shopfronts refitted since February. Property records show one former bank branch at 42 View Street converted into a 190-square-metre co-working suite leased by a software firm that relocated from Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

Vacancy data and lease prices point to tightening supply

Greater Bendigo’s commercial vacancy rate stood at 6.8 per cent in the June quarter, down from 9.4 per cent twelve months earlier, according to figures released by the Real Estate Institute of Victoria on 3 July. Average asking rents for ground-floor retail space in the CBD rose to $412 per square metre, up $37 year-on-year. The Epsom development is expected to add 28 new tenancies once complete, with another 8,000 square metres of floor space already under planning approval at the Kangaroo Flat industrial estate.

Businesses weighing a move are advised to review current lease expiry dates against the March 2027 completion timeline and contact the City of Greater Bendigo’s economic development unit for site-specific incentives before September applications close.