High school hopes dashed as Costco site to be used for pathology
The Costco site in Docklands will not house a new secondary school as many local families had been hoping for, with the supermarket giant understood to have sold the building to a medical institution.
While the identity of the institution and its specific operations for the Docklands site remain a mystery, Docklands News understands it will be used for pathology and will bring a significant influx of new employees to the precinct.
With research facilities such as laboratories on-site, it’s understood that the nature of the work involved will mean employees will largely be expected to attend five days a week, which is good news for local businesses at The District Docklands.
However, it is not yet known when the new medical institution will commence operations from the site, with Costco remaining open in Docklands despite originally announcing it would be relocating by the end of 2024.
Costco announced in January last year that it was leaving Docklands and relocating to Ardeer, and later confirmed in February that “the Docklands warehouse will close in late 2024”.
Docklands News contacted Costco regarding the sale of its building and its continued operations in Docklands, but it declined to comment.
The Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions, which is understood to have helped facilitate the deal between Costco and the medical institution, was also contacted for comment.
Development Victoria said the sale of the site was a matter for the owners as was its future uses so long as they were in accordance with the planning scheme.
The site was first released to the market by the Victorian Government via a public tender process in the early 2000s. The commercial details and associated sale cost of the land agreed as part of this process is commercial in confidence.
The news of Costco’s departure had fuelled hopes among local families that the government might acquire the site for a much-needed high school to support future students from Docklands Primary School.
The government was forced to open a campus at unused space in The District Docklands in 2023 after Docklands Primary School exceeded its enrolment capacity just two years after opening.
A Department of Education spokesperson said it was “continuing to explore options for a new secondary school to support families in Melbourne’s inner north and west, including the Docklands community.”
“To ensure robust planning for growth, we review the need for new schools using a range of metrics including demographic modelling of residential growth, demographic change and enrolment trends at schools across Victoria,” the spokesperson said.
The most recent state budget allocated $1 million to progress planning for primary and secondary school provision in Melbourne’s inner north and west and for minor works at two schools.
The government said this funding would provide opportunities for new permanent infrastructure to support existing inner-city schools under enrolment pressure, and that school provision in Docklands would form part of this work. •

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