Steve Troon, managing director of H. Troon construction company which developed DTC, confirmed the sale to Shopping Centres Australia, which owns almost 100 centres across Australia.

And he revealed several "pretty major national tenants" have committed to the next stage of DTC with Troon currently entering contracts and completing due diligence to buy four hectares of land on the west side of DTC on Glenelg Highway.

"We are now developing plans to present to council in next three to four months which will bring more exciting opportunities to Delacombe," he said.

" A lot of people thought we had gone too early before the houses had come in Delacombe - historically regional shopping centres get built after houses arrive.

"We made a decision based on confidence in the town and what was about to happen so we could develop a shopping centre early. That certainly proved to be a successful move and the centre has been trading spectacularly since we opened."

Shopping Centres Australia chief executive Anthony Mellows said the strong growth of Ballarat encouraged them to buy Delacombe Town Centre.

"We are very well acquainted with Ballarat as we already own Big W and Dan Murphy's in Ballarat," he said. "We have always liked Ballarat, it's a really good, strong town and around DTC is now a really good growth area," he said.

The $112 million sale covers the whole of DTC and all the shops attached to it.

Earlier this year, the Troon Group sold the neighbouring Ballarat Lifestyle Centre which is home to Bunnings, Pet Stock, The Salvation Army, Autobarn and other big-box retailers, for $12.39 million.

"There's a lot of good critical mass there and that's where growth of Ballarat is," Mr Mellows said.

"We obviously bought DTC off Troon, who developed it ... and we are more long-term owners so it's a good fit there. If they were to go and do (neighbouring) development we could be the end owner as obviously it's better to own the whole thing."

Mr Troon said Ballarat's population growth was pushing retail out of the CBD to its suburbs.

"When you look at the demise of the CBD and the growth of DTC and Stockland, it's clearly showing us how Ballarat is changing significantly and I think the change is going to continue," he said.

"We have to forget about Ballarat CBD being the retail strength in Ballarat. We will see a big change down there over the next 10 years - it's won't rely on retail but on high density accommodation. We've got to move people in to the CBD and the entertainment industry and hospitality industry there will grow.

"The retail is pushed out to where people live."

Mr Troon said they were not looking to sell DTC but saw the current economic climate as a "unique opportunity" to capitalise on their development.

"We are seeing yields we have never seen before and I'm quite convinced we will never see those yields again. I think we are nearly at the end of the run of the cycle and things will start to push back the other way soon," he said.

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Development of stage two of DTC is likely to take around 18 months.

"I've been in Ballarat all my life and I haven't seen Ballarat looking as optimistic as it is now," Mr Troon said.

"We are really poised to grab hold of that post-pandemic shift and Troon Group is really happy we can invest in to Ballarat, confident that the returns are there."

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