The Canberra Milk factory and buildings on Mildura Street were listed for sale in August 2023. Photo: Colliers.
The company has sponsored the local rugby league team since 1982. Its logo is emblazoned on the front of jerseys. And perhaps most famously (or infamously), limited batches of green-coloured, lime-flavoured milk have been produced over the years in honour of the team’s hero colour.
The two have now taken their partnership to a whole new level.
The Canberra Raiders are the new co-owners of the old Canberra Milk factory near Fyshwick, in partnership with local developer Doma Group.
Doma confirmed the collection of buildings between 2 and 8 Mildura Street in Griffith was bought last month. It’s understood the sale price was in the mid-$20-million range.
“The partnership is excited to explore the potential of the heritage buildings located on the site whilst also working through a broader master plan,” development manager Matt Cuthbert said.
The 20,045-square-metre site has been home to the operations of Bega Dairy since 1937 and its subsidiary Capitol Chilled Foods Australia.
It includes the dairy farmers’ factory and office building, free-standing warehousing, loading bays, hardstand areas, refrigerated facilities and the original caretaker’s cottage, but does come with heritage constraints.
Blocks 1 and 2 on the site are listed on the ACT Heritage Register, and three buildings were designed by prominent 20th-century architect Ken Oliphant.
Bega Dairy moved milk production to Penrith in Greater Western Sydney in late February this year following a “careful review of fresh milk manufacturing operations in the ACT”.
Canberra Milk and Canberra Raiders have a long history together. Photo: Canberra Milk, Facebook.
“Bega’s Griffith facility has not been operating at its full capacity for some time,” the company said in a statement at the time.
“This, combined with the fact that there have not been dairy farms within the ACT for many years, has created challenges for the Canberra site.”
Up to 19 employees were offered redundancy packages, redeployment or assistance with “job transition”, and the buildings were listed for sale in August this year for $20 million. The Colliers real estate company marketed them as a prime investment opportunity.
Doma did not confirm plans for the site, except to say there are “no immediate plans to commence construction and Bega Group [will] remain operating from the site”.
The developer currently has several mixed-use and residential projects underway, including a redevelopment of the old Brickworks site in Yarralumla and The Melrose project in Woden.
The Raiders Group developed a residential block in Braddon next to the NRL team’s headquarters, known as The Grounds.
The Canberra Milk site falls under the ACT Government’s ‘East Lake Place Plan’, released in March 2023. This sets out a vision to redevelop The Causeway in Kingston, the area around the train station and railway museum, and the former landfill site next to the Jerrabomberra Wetlands.
According to the East Lake Place Plan, the area around Mildura Street “will be strengthened as the business and trader hub … including an innovation precinct”.
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