Beveridge cattle farm sells for $200 million

Deloraine, a 600 hectare cattle farm at 500 Old Hume Highway, Beveridge has sold for about $200 million.

The cattle farm on Melbourne’s northern fringe was bought by a Melbourne-based developer.

The 500 Old Hume Highway holding is likely to be turned into about 6000 residential blocks.

Beveridge, 42 kilometres north of the city, is famed for being bushranger Ned Kelly’s first home town.

It sold through Biggin & Scott Land agent Frank Nagle.

It was sold by members of the Laffan family, which had run cattle in the area for about 100 years.

The Laffans reportedly bought the property in 1964 for less than £90,000.

Deloraine was previously owned by late wool industry leader Douglas Boyd.

Ned Kelly's father Red built their first home in Beveridge in 1859.

The Laffan family has owned Deloraine for 54 years.

The Herald Sun reported the buyer of the site was Akron Property Group, which is behind another housing development in the western suburb of Rockbank and two apartment towers in the Melbourne CBD.

The site is next to Stockland’s 11,000-block Cloverton housing development and near MAB Corp and Gibson Property Group’s $8 billion Merrifield mixed-use estate in Mickleham.