An historic western district property will stay in Victorian hands after a local consortium of farming families put together a multimillion-dollar purchase.
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Agricultural fund manager Laguna Bay will sell the 19th Century Banongill Station for approximately $80 million to the consortium.
Now a cropping and livestock holding, Banongill was settled in 1853 as an outpost of Borriyalook Station. It was owned by pastoralist and philanthropist Francis Ormond, founder of Ormond College.
Constructed of traditional bluestone, its gardens are registered by the National Trust.
Banongill is located 10km from Skipton and 45 minutes from Ballarat, and comprises 8200ha (20,000 acres) of prime mixed farming land.
In 2016 Laguna Bay Agricultural Fund paid around $48 million for Banongill (then 6880ha) and an adjoining property to take the aggregation to its current 8200ha.
The fund converted a significant part of the property from grazing to cropping, improving existing cropping country along with substantial pasture and water infrastructure upgrades.
Laguna Bay is an Australian investment vehicle set up in 2016, with the US-based Washington State Investment Board as the main investor. The board manages the superannuation funds of Washington public servants.
