Top private school to set up ‘super-campus’ on big tract of Caulfield Racecourse
By Danny Russell and Peter Ryan
The Melbourne Racing Club has agreed to sell a $195 million parcel of land at Caulfield Racecourse to Mount Scopus Memorial College for the Jewish private school to build a new campus.
The MRC’s decision to sell the 7.5-hectare site will clear the racing club of its $165 million debt, and could have implications for the Melbourne Football Club’s proposal to build a $100 million training and administration base at the racecourse.
Aerial images of the MRC land, previously used by horse trainers, at Caulfield Racecourse.Credit: Eddie Jim
The tract of land being sold to Mount Scopus runs the length of the western precinct of the racecourse – from Station Street along Kambrook and Booran roads to Glen Eira College.
The land was previously used for stables and training facilities, but has remained largely unused since horse training stopped at Caulfield in 2021.
MRC chairman John Kanga said the club had been negotiating with the college, which intended to build a new campus on the site, for more than 12 months and had engaged consultant Ernst & Young as part of a review process.
He said the deal, expected to be settled within two years, had bipartisan support.
“It will benefit not only the school and its students, but also have a positive impact on local residents and the broader community,” he said.
The 75-year-old Mount Scopus Memorial College operates three campuses – in Burwood, Caulfield South and St Kilda – but has been searching for a new super-site closer to the city’s Jewish heartland.
In June, The Age reported the school was looking to strike a land-swap deal with the state government to relocate its three campuses to the Caulfield Hospital site.
Mount Scopus Memorial College in Burwood. Credit: Scott McNaughton
The school transports about 1000 students from the Caulfield area to Burwood each day, costing parents thousands of dollars each year.
A source familiar with the land deal, but not authorised to speak about the school’s plans, said the racecourse deal would eliminate the college’s need for the hospital site.
Kanga said the MRC’s ability to clear its debt was not only a win for the club but also the racing industry, which was suffering from a significant downturn in wagering turnover.
“As everyone is aware, I have only been club chairman since October and have been highly critical of the $165 million debt incurred by the former committee and executive team,” Kanga said.
Caulfield’s new-look mounting yard was unveiled in February.Credit: Getty Images
“This sale will completely clear that debt, reducing risk and stabilising the club’s financial position.”
Kanga said the new MRC committee would reverse the policies of the previous committee by continuing to race at Sandown, shelving a costly, and what he considers “unnecessary”, plan to build a new Caulfield grandstand, and moving the Caulfield mounting yard back to what he sees as its “rightful position” in front of the grandstand.
Two sources with knowledge of the Mount Scopus agreement, who were not authorised to speak publicly, said the school campus project would complicate Melbourne Football Club’s plan to build their long-awaited home base at Caulfield.
The AFL club would require state government and Caulfield Racecourse Reserve Trust approval to proceed, because the training ovals would be built on Crown land inside the track.
This masthead reported in October that the Demons would need to raise $70 million from governments, the Melbourne Cricket Club and private investors to bridge a funding gap for the project, which would end a 20-year search for a central, purpose-built headquarters.
The Demons would also use cash reserves from profits and launch a fundraising campaign, although they would not draw on their future fund.
Melbourne Football Club’s contested election will be decided on December 17, when the club hopes former MCC chairman Steven Smith will be elected to the board and take over as president at the end of next year.
CEO Gary Pert, who will finish in that role at Christmas, is continuing as a consultant on the Caulfield Racecourse project while the business case is being prepared.
Mount Scopus Memorial College’s 2023 financial report revealed it had $51 million in property, plant and equipment.
The MRC’s plans to wipe its debt comes as the Victoria Racing Club, which runs Flemington, reels from losing $70 million across the past four years.
The club that hosts the Melbourne Cup last week axed up to 40 jobs as it moves to rein in years of spiralling debt. It borrowed heavily to open a $128 million grandstand in October 2018.
Moonee Valley is pushing on with plans to reshape its track and build a new grandstand after next year’s Cox Plate, which would form part of a total project cost between $200 million and $250 million.
The Valley posted a $12.4 million loss in the past financial year, but poured money into construction of its Moonee Valley Park project – an investment that was expected to reap greater dividends when completed properties were sold in following years.
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