Andrew Welsh excited to see Yallarah come to life

Wel.Co general manager Andrew Welsh said it had brought forward Stage 2 because of the demand and it was selling “extremely well’’.

“Forty lots have already been sold in the first month, which is huge for a regional area,” Mr Welsh said.

“The inquiries we are getting per week is more than what we are getting in any of our other projects across the country.

“This is one of the largest regional master-planned communities in Australia’s history.”

Mr Welsh said Yallarah had gained much traction with local buyers, as well as strong interest from people looking to relocate to the border town.

“It’s a real diverse mix which is great,” he said.

“It’s just on us to make sure we have enough stock to bring to the market for those people who want to be moving in.

“Some people are waiting for the next stages in the master plan to figure out where they want to be so they’ll have to wait a little.”

Mr Welsh, who played 162 AFL games with Essendon before turning to property development with great success, said Echuca was a community primed for “significant growth”.

“Tourism has always been here but there is a new food culture, new restaurants, bars and pubs are opening up,” he said.

“I have been coming up to Echuca since I was younger, so I jumped at the opportunity to provide a masterplan to the region, it is something that has not been seen before, to this scale.

“I’m passionate about the area and want to set the benchmark for master planning communities up this way.

“I just love the place, I’d live here if I could, but because of my work I can’t, (although) from a business standpoint it ticks all the boxes as well.”

Mr Welsh acknowledged the support from Campaspe Shire Council during the development phase.

“First thing, if you have a good council to work with it makes it a lot easier because you got aligned views,” he said.

“Taking the personal approach is how I like to approach things, working collaboratively and as a team is how we get better outcomes.”

Mr Welsh said Yallarah, the largest housing development in regional Victoria, was a great place to call home.

“You will get the old history charm of the town, but we are going to add a real contemporary type edge to that with our walking tracks through the project and we have leading landscape architectures designing all our parks,” he said.

“We will bring in the history of the property with the McSwain family through the project which is rare to see.”

Mr Welsh said he always had an interest in property development and got more joy out of his current career than kicking goals at the MCG.

“Footy was great and that lasted for 10 years, but to be able to change people’s lives in a positive way by giving them something that will deliver is something I get way more enjoyment out of,” he said.