State government announces new Geelong social housing projects
The state government is keeping details of a new 49-apartment social housing development in central Geelong that it is funding close to its chest.
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Almost 50 social housing apartments will be built in central Geelong but the state government won’t say exactly where just yet.
A spokeswoman for Housing and Building Minister Harriet Shing confirmed the government’s social housing growth fund would bankroll the dwellings.
A further three social homes will be located in Newtown, but the spokeswoman was unable to provide further detail on either project due to the early stage of the planning process.
This is despite Ms Shing promoting the projects as part of 1043 new social homes across the state, at a cost of $369m.
The social housing growth fund provides funding for organisations to help build and operate social housing for 30 years.
“By partnering with not-for-profit community housing providers, it means we can build more modern, energy efficient and accessible homes for Victorians on the social housing waitlist,” Ms Shing said.
The latest announcement comes as the developer of an 11-storey, 177-apartment social housing complex on Myers St seeks state government approval to amend its existing permit.
Among the architectural changes requested by the Pitard Group to the Transport and Planning Department are a minor reconfiguration of retail premises, relocation of the car park entry ramp, and various changes to the materials and finishes.
“The amendments to the plans can be generally described as refinements that have occurred during the detailed design phase and as a result of input from the project engineers,” Pitard head of development Andrew Bromley said in the application.
“They are generally minor in nature and of no consequence in the context of the overall approval and should therefore be supported.”
Upon completion of the development – expected to occur in December – Pitard will sell all the apartments to community housing provider National Affordable Housing Victoria, which will manage the building.
The apartments are being purchased via the government’s social housing growth fund
Meanwhile, work continues to ramp up at 2-12 Marshall St in Newtown, where 77 apartments are being built across four storeys.
A crane is now on-site and traffic management in place as several trucks belonging to earthworks subcontractor El Dorado come and go.
The social housing growth fund allocated $22.6m to the project in an earlier round of funding.
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Originally published as State government announces new Geelong social housing projects
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