Geelong council reviews sale of The Outpost site

The council announced in December it would look to sell the Busport car park, but the possibility is under review. Find out why

The Outpost is facing closure as it is unable to find a new home while the city moves to sell off it's current location. However, the city is currently reviewing potential asset sales. Picture: Alan Barber

City Hall could reverse its decision to sell assets, including a homelessness support service’s building, as it looks to dig its way out of a financial black hole.

The City of Greater Geelong revealed on Friday it expected to record an $8m deficit for the 2022-23 financial year and would be faced with no choice but to make “tough decisions”.

The council announced the sale of $52m of assets in April last year in an attempt to drive down the city’s debt and record a surplus.

While some of those buildings have been sold, the Busport Carpark, where homelessness charity The Outpost is based, and 200 Princes Highway in Corio, which contains a KFC store and carparks, are still owned by council.

It’s understood the council will now weigh up whether it is more cost effective to sell the remaining assets, or to keep them as cash generators.

A sale of the Busport property would oust Geelong homelessness support service The Outpost from the CBD building it had inhabited for 22 years.

Despite conditions of sale to retain community access placed on other assets sold off by the city, no such condition had been placed on the facility to allow The Outpost to stay.

In December, council said it would look to appoint an agent to facilitate the sale of the Busport and The Outpost understood the site would be listed for sale before June 30.

This week, Geelong council refused to confirm any details of the potential sales assets and instead said they were under review.

Mayor Trent Sullivan said the review was a routine assessment, as the city prepared to present its 2023-24 draft budget at its April meeting.

“The council’s approach to asset sales is considered annually as part of our budget process,” Mr Sullivan said.

The city’s finance chair, Bruce Harwood, who took over the portfolio in March, said the “overarching aim” of the council’s decisions was stability.

“When the circumstances change as dramatically as they have, you always reassess your financial forecast; what assets you’ve got, what your assets are costing you and take a longer term view of what’s the best financial decision to make,” he said.

“We’re just finding a bit hard to look into the crystal ball, that’s all.”

The Outpost’s vice-president, Amy Flint, confirmed the charity was still looking for a new home, despite a $50,000 election pledge from the state government to save it.

“We continue to work with both the council and the state government to find a solution,” she said.

The Geelong Advertiser understands the state government is yet to provide The Outpost with a list of possible options.

In December, the city sold the Civic Centre carpark at auction for $22.6m, and in March sold a 1.5ha site in Belmont, including a ten pin bowling centre, for $5.5m.

The remaining two sites are yet to be sold.

Originally published as Geelong council reviews sale of The Outpost site