Baillieu's sell Woodhouse Station

Baillieu's sell Woodhouse Station
Jonathan ChancellorDecember 7, 2020

China's Fucheng Group has acquired the last remaining parcel of the Baillieu family's Woodhouse Station on Melbourne's outskirts for about $100 million for new housing.

The 4953-hectare rural property on Ballan Road near Melton was put up for sale two years ago by the Woodhouse ­Pastoral Company, whose shareholders include the Baillieus' investment vehicle, Mutual Trust.

Fucheng Group is a privately owned company led by self-made Chinese agribusiness billionaire Li Fucheng.

Another 1250-hectare portion of the original Woodhouse Station is under development as the Eynesbury Estate.

The Baillieus bought Woodhouse Station in 1947 when it was a 7500-hectare cropping and grazing property.

The Australian Financial Review indicated the Foreign Investment Review Board had been approved the sale of the site whose present zoning allows for agricultural and conservation use with more than 1300 hectares to be acquired by the Victorian government for native vegetation offsets.

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

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