Mr Wright, along with many other business people in Ballarat, has long argued for a review of the commercial rating regime. He says the $5.95 million figure for the Rural Press/Australian Community Media property, encompassing almost 2.5 hectares, is just one of several sales or upcoming offerings which point to a gradual recovery of Ballarat's commercial market, and therefore the need to encourage investment by rate easing.

In an extensive interview with The Courier, Mr Wright says while inequitable commercial rates have been a sea-anchor on growth, markets and development, a popular perception of the central business district of Ballart being mired in downturn is largely just that - a perception.

"(The rates issue) has been a thorn in the side of commercial real estate in Ballarat for many, many years," Mr Wright says.

"Most obviously is when we explain the rates, or the level of rates on commercial industrial property in Ballarat, to people from say, Melbourne. They're surprised and taken aback by the high cost. I still remember in the past people have made comments: 'Goodness, I've got another shop in High Street Armadale and my rates are nowhere near as high as what you're asking for in Sturt Street".

The historical anomaly of commercial and residential rates in the city was born of a political desire to win residential votes, but Mr Wright says regardless of any political persuasion, the calculation for who pays how much is pure economics.

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He says any council at the outset of a financial period will look at their budget, then examine their rate base and the increase in property values, and do the mathematics from that point.

"I get that. But what we've been experiencing in Ballarat, especially over the last 20 years, is the commercial industrial volume of properties has increased. So therefore the rate base of commercial industrial property has also dramatically increased. So why has it taken so long for them to look at commercial rates? We've been screaming at council about this for years."

The answer, Mr Wright says, is successive councils felt they could rely an income from the commercial sector, and the penalty for an unthinking reliance on that income is an increasing difficulty in leasing property.

"That could be one of the reasons why there is a constant series of vacant shops on Sturt Street," he says. "

"Retail rents have not risen dramatically; I want to be clear about that. Commercial rents have not dramatically increased to the same extent as industrial land rates. So you're paying $200 to $350 per square metre for retail space in the CBD of Ballarat, and you were probably paying pretty similar 15 years ago. But industrial land rates: 20 years ago you could buy industrial land at $60 a square metre; now you're paying $200 per square metre.

"There's been great growth in value in industrial land; there has not been great growth in retail rents."

The ready availability of industrial land in Ballarat compared to Geelong or Bendigo is a benefit for the city, says Mr Wright, with concepts such as BWEZ giving prospective manufacturing faculties an opportunity that doesn't exist elsewhere regionally and hasn't existed in the past in Ballarat.

He says for Ballarat to successfully attract a business looking for 10,000 to 20,000 square metres of land, a development like BWEZ needs to be available and readily marketable.

At the same time, the drift of retail westward to new sites like Delacombe Town Centre is not a harbinger of the imminent death of the CBD and its shops, Mr Wright says. There has always been an ebb and flow of vacancies in the city, much like a chess game, and the change of businesses is a healthy thing. While high commercial rates have discouraged some investment and leasing, the reality is Ballarat's centre is always changing.

"The strength of the CBD is its offices, and the strength in its retailing is the ancillary services, or the support, for those offices. So specialist retail, for example: clothing stores, food venues, dry cleaning services, stationery supplies - all those types of businesses that support the strength of the CBD office environment.

"Can I suggest to you the area of the CBD is perhaps growing? I would call Creswick Road part of the CBD, and there's new growth along there. We're seeing expansion down into Skipton Street; you've got Newington Physiotherapy going into a new space. We're seeing an expansion of the CBD of Ballarat, which is great. It's an exciting time."

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