The company behind the new FreshChoice supermarket to be built in Cromwell has welcomed an Overseas Investment Office (OIO) decision to allow overseas acquisition of a long-term lease for land for the development.
The OIO decision allows Wholesale Distributors Ltd (Australian public 99.21%, various overseas persons 0.79%) to acquire a "long-term leasehold interest" in 0.4ha of land at 1-3 Isles St, Cromwell.
Wholesale Distributors is a subsidiary of Progressive Enterprises Ltd, an operating division of Woolworths Ltd.The decision said the proposed investment was likely to lead to benefits including job creation and added market competition.
A spokesman for Progressive Enterprises, which owns the FreshChoice brand, said they were "really pleased" about the decision.
"We believe the new FreshChoice will be a great addition to the community, and we’ll be able to update the community with more details as the plans develop."
Preparation had started on-site, and construction would start soon, the spokesman said.
There were no other details about timeframe yet, but the spokesman said Progressive Enterprises was always seeking new outet locations.
"We’re always on the lookout for new opportunities to bring Countdown, FreshChoice, and SuperValue stores to customers, and this means regularly looking at a number of sites across the country. Alexandra is no exception. If a new site is confirmed we would then communicate with the local community about this."
