Cranbourne Precincts – City of Casey, Melbourne (2020)

The City of Casey’s Cranbourne Community Hospital and Revitalisation Project aims to optimise the opportunity and community outcomes presented by the development of a Community Hospital on Council-owned land in and around Cranbourne town centre and the nearby 21.4 ha Casey Complex. In addition to this it would result in the divestment of Council assets currently on the land, providing opportunities for the redevelopment of an integrated Community Hub elsewhere within Cranbourne.

SGL expected a business case process for a complex project of this nature to be dynamic and iterative – as one keeps learning more through the development process, potential solutions and clarity of risks and implications continue to be better understood and answered. This complexity was further complicated by the key input for the Business Case, the purchase of the land for the Community Hospital, continuing to change and evolve at the Business Case itself was being developed.

Given the complexities of this project and the at times shifting goals SGL’s fundamental approach was to determine the preferred long-term solution that would address the question “What is the City of Casey Council’s best long, medium, and short-term options to achieve the best possible service, financial and sustainable urban development/place-making outcomes for both Cranbourne Town Centre and for Casey Complex? “

SGL developed a comprehensive Business Case to answer this question, and in turn to answer what the options at a ‘Project’ level were – for the Community Hub; and what are the options at a ‘Programme’ level – for the Urban Development and Revitalisation Opportunities for Cranbourne Town Centre and the Casey Complex.

Working with Pitcher Partners, SGL also developed a dynamic and comprehensive financial model to evaluate a wide range of options across multiple locations and funding assumptions. The model was provided to Council for subsequent use and so the impacts of future changing inputs can be readily updated and assessed.