Expressions of interest have opened for prospective buyers for a group of four properties fronting the Western Highway, near the intersection with Brewery Tap Road.

The total combined area of the four properties is just under 12 hectares, at 118,819 square metres, with a freeway frontage of 657 metres. The properties are split between two ownership groups and can be bought separately or all together.

Under a commercial two zone, the properties could eventually be used for a range of purposes including big box retail and even a shopping centre to cater to the city's eastern growth areas such as Brown Hill.

The property is in a crucial development area with both the City of Ballarat and VicRoads heavily involved in shaping the future of the precinct.

Council has published the Woodmans Hill Gateway Precinct Master Plan to guide the future development of the area while the freeway has been earmarked for a major upgrade at the intersection with Brewery Tap Road and Old Melbourne Road.

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The upgrade has the potential to increase the speed limit to 110km/h all the way through while also removing the dangerous intersection of the freeway and both Brewery Tap Road and Old Melbourne Road.

The Department of Transport has placed a public acquisition overlay over the area to allow for future development, but the project is yet to receive funding and no detailed designs have been developed.

Other large companies have also already dipped their toes in the water to start development in the precinct, with a planning permit application submitted for a 119-room Holiday Inn hotel complex.

Colliers International managing director Andrew Lewis there were examples of similar development across various parts of Ballarat that could indicate what the possible future of the site could be.

"If you think of something along the lines of Delacombe Town Centre, that's the sort of thing you can do out there," he said.

"It could be somewhere between DTC and the developments along Latrobe Street and Wiltshire Lane. That's the sort of development we would envisage. You could have car yards, caravan sales. You think about what's happening along Learmonth Road, Delacombe Town Centre and Latrobe Street, they're the sort of uses."

The property has only ever been used for farming previously and was once the orchard for Wilson's Fruit and Veg, with the first store located where the former John Deere dealership now stands.

Mr Lewis estimated the land would sell for about $15 million, well under the per square metre rate of other properties around the city.

"The price expectation is about $15 million, which is a rate of $125 per square metre. In the recent industrial sales that we've been having, the auctions we've had have show sale rates for industrial land in Ballarat are $300 and $400 per square metre and up to $555," he said.

"The price rate we're talking about, we're talking about 25 to 30 per cent of the current industrial land value without the exposure to the Western Highway. It's a big chunk of money, but it's a pretty reasonable price considering the potential and the exposure."

Mr Lewis said the potential road upgrade could give the site direct access to the freeway, rather than from the rear as it is now.

"It's been on the planning book for the last 20 years. We think it's getting very close. We'd expect that intersection to be reconfigured in the next three to five years," he said.

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"At that point, the existing westbound lane becomes the service road for this land, it gets very, very good access going forward. At the moment, it's got great exposure and great frontage, but the access is from the rear."

Department of Transport Grampians regional director Michael Bailey while there had been preliminary planning and research into the Western Freeway upgrade at Old Melbourne Road and Brewery Tap Road, the community would be informed of any plans for future developments.

"We're getting on with upgrading Ballarat's road network to boost safety, improve traffic flow and keep up with growth, whilst also planning for the future," he said.

"We will continue to consult with the community to ensure needs are met in any planning for future development in the area."

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