Another former Corio school site set to become a housing development
A developer’s $20m plan will transform a long-vacant northern suburbs school site into nearly 100 affordable homes as part of a push to boost the area’s appeal. But first, the public is being asked to have its say.
Almost 100 homes will be built on the long-vacant site of a former northern suburbs primary school as part of a $20m plan that seeks to improve the “desirability” of the area.
The proposal put forward by Corio Prospect Pty Ltd – headed by Chinese national Qing Dong Liu and backed by nine investment groups – includes 79 two-bedroom and 15 three-bedroom single-storey dwellings for the Vermont Ave site once home to Corio South Primary School.
Geelong council has put the plans out for public consultation until November 7.
Melbourne-based consultancy firm Human Habitats, on behalf of the developer, said the area was “in need of renewal” and the 94 dwellings would complement the existing neighbourhood character.
“Council is seeking to increase the desirability of Corio and Norlane to prospective homeowners,” it stated.
“A key strategy to achieving this goal is to upgrade the existing housing stock and encourage medium-density development on underutilised and vacant blocks in appropriate locations.”
The application promoted the development as one that would housing diversity and affordability for “families that are seeking a more affordable and low maintenance alternative to the existing housing stock”.
Corio South Primary School opened in 1965 and technically closed at the end of 2010.
But students remained at the site for three more years while the five-campus configuration of Northern Bay P-12 College was completed.
The 2.02ha site sold at auction for $5.64m in late 2021, more than $1m above expectations.
With Goldsworthy Reserve to the north, it has a triple street frontage – Vermont Ave to the south, Delaware St to the east, Maryland Drive to the west.
“Infill sites suitable for townhouses and residential subdivision, continue to be hotly contested within the current market, sustained by strong demand for the finished project, particularly from first homeowners,” Savills agent Julian Heatherich said at the time.
Other schools sites that became surplus to state requirements following the formation of Northern Bay College have been targeted for housing developments by Melbourne-based husband and wife team Deniz and Gina Sivasli.
The Sivasli Group has lodged an application with council for its $70m Lynden Estate, located on the former site of Flinders Peak Secondary College in Corio.
The proposed estate is 700m west of Sivasli’s $50m, 107-dwelling Edenville project, where civil works are underway at the 3.1ha Sharland Rd site that was home to Rosewall Primary School until 2008.
Council rejected the Edenville application in late 2023, claiming it was a “significant overdevelopment” that would negatively impact neighbourhood character, but the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal later overruled it.
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Originally published as Another former Corio school site set to become a housing development
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