H.Troon developing managing director Steve Troon confirmed construction on the 1200 square-metre site would start immediately once a planning application had been approved by the City of Ballarat council. Mr Troon expected this would passed within the next month.

Dan Murphy’s will move in to DTC on the corner of the Glenelg Highway and Cherry Flat Road. 

This will add to anchor tenants Woolworths, KMart and Showbiz Cinemas with one of Australia’s largest Bunnings on track to open mid-year.

Mr Troon also confirmed the $19 million Bunnings build would have a homemaker centre attached. DTC property managers were in the process of leasing homemaker spaces and he said early responses had been positive.

It is unclear what this move will mean for the Eureka Homemaker Centre in Wendouree, which has remained dormant since anchor tenant Masters closed its doors two years ago.

The area surrounding DTC and Bunnings is expected to house as many as 12,000 residents by 2030 – many likely to be in need of the do-it-yourself mecca.

“It is becoming a real town centre,” Mr Troon said. 

Telstra chief executive officer Andy Penn officially opened a kiosk in the middle of the centre on Tuesday morning.

Fit-outs for Ballarat’s most popular burger joint, as voted in The Courier, Griffin Burger are underway with ribs and burger bar Food Ruckers soon to be on the menu at DTC.

A gym is also taking shape in the centre.

DTC is the city’s biggest retail development since Central Square. The centre opened in early September 2017 with flagship tenants Woolworths, Kmart and Showbiz Cinemas among 30 founding traders. Set on a 6.5-hectare block, DTC was built from an initial $33 million transformation, primarily to cater to the region’s booming western growth.

Early stages of the Bunnings site created between 60 to 70 construction jobs for the city.

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