A FOOTSCRAY icon has been sold off the same week the suburb celebrated its 150th birthday.

A syndicate of local businessmen have bought Forges of Footscray for about $14.5 million and are in talks with the council to redevelop the site to include an apartment complex, shopping centre and possible office space. It is believed the development could go as high as 12 storeys.

Forges will remain open for up to two years while the new owners get planning permits for the site.

The properties, which spread over Paisley, Albert, Nicholson and French streets, cover over 9000 square metres of land.

Vinci Carbone director Joseph Carbone, who negotiated the sale, said the buildings were prime pieces of land.

“Footscray has an enormous amount of potential being so close to the City and Docklands; there is scope with this property to develop a substantial mixed use development incorporating comprehensive retail and high density residential, subject to relevant council approvals,” Mr Carbone said.

“Rarely do we see such a site of this size and proximity to the CBD come on to the market.”

Forges managing director Doug Zappelli was thrilled with the sale.

“It’s good because we were planning to downsize Forges anyway and we looked two or three years ago at putting a supermarket in and so forth but due to difficulties it was easier for us to sell it and we’re very happy with the price,” Mr Zappelli said.

“We don’t plan to decrease our total business. The problem with that Forges site is it’s all over the place…and the way we buy and sell our stock today, it was too big for one particular site.”

The management held a meeting with staff last Monday to inform them of the sale.

Mr Zappelli said Forges would not be making any workers redundant, but plans to relocate them to a group of up to three stores the company hopes to open in the area. One of the possible locations is Braybrook’s Central West Shopping Centre.

Forges was opened in 1898 by Keith Forge and was managed by three successive generations of the Forge family until it was sold to discount retailer Dimmeys in 1987, who retained the prominent Forges name and logo.

The sale comes nearly a year after Mr Zappelli sold Dimmeys in Richmond for $16.5 million to private developer Joel Freeman.