A proposed development in Williams Landing is expected to create about 13,000 white-collar jobs in the western suburbs over the next 15 years.
Developer Cedar Woods will start work later this year on an employment hub to include 5000 square metres of office space, a 50-room hotel and shops.
It is expected to be finished by 2031.
Cedar Woods’ state manager Nathan Blackburne said the west was known predominantly for blue-collar work, but that would change.
“Statistics show about 46.5 per cent of workers living in Point Cook and Williams Landing are university-qualified,” he said.
“We will create more jobs in the local area so they will no longer have to travel to Melbourne for work.”
Masters setback
The announcement comes as about 120 Williams Landing jobs are in jeopardy following a decision by Woolworths to pull the plug on its troubled Masters stores.
Woolworths announced on Monday that it was looking to either sell or wind up the stores after sustaining heavy losses. The Williams Landing store was opened in November 2013.
Mr Blackburne said stage one of the jobs project, which began last year, was the construction of homes and infrastructure.
The second stage, strata offices and a hotel, would begin later in the year.
A report prepared by economists MacroPlan Dimasi said Williams Landing had the potential, based on its location in Wyndham, to employ more than 13,000 people because it was close to major arterial roads, good public transport and large areas of commercial land.
Werribee MP and state Treasurer Tim Pallas said he supported the project.
“It’s a strong and positive boost to employment and economic activity in the west,” he said.
Wyndham councillor Intaj Khan, who holds the economic development portfolio, said creation of jobs for the many young, skilled and educated people in the west was a good thing.
“There is definitely a big demand for jobs out there,” he said.
