State government in slow lane for approvals of massive CBD developments
More than $500m of commercial and residential development is pegged for Geelong’s CBD. One decision is expected to open a deluge of interest in the city’s future.
Geelong
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Developments planned for the Geelong CBD worthmore than $500 million are in limbo as the Andrews’ government has taken more than a year to finalise a city planning rulebook for the next 30 years.
The bureaucratic go-slow has left potential key players in the city’s future frustrated and wanting answers.
City leaders say the government’s failure to release the Central Geelong Framework Plan (CGFP) – which will set CBD density, height and other planning parameters – is holding up investment and growth.
Plans for the $250m Cunningham Place development at 35 Corio St went to the state government last year.
But Amber Property Group, which wants to build a 20-storey building at the site that will include a five-star hotel, apartments, a supermarket and conference centre, is still waiting on a green light.
SEE THE FULL LIST OF STALLED PROJECTS BELOW
Developer Gurner and Geelong property identity Dean Montgomery have plans for a $300m five-star hotel and luxury apartment complex at 20-28 Brougham St.
The partners have approval to build to 60m but are seeking approval to increase that to 77m.
The CGFP is also expected to guide the future of Market Square – which has languished in recent years because of a lack of tenants – and allow for more CBD hotels in the lead up to the Commonwealth Games.
The state government’s planning website shows seven other development proposals in the Geelong CBD, including residential projects, have been submitted for approval since November 2021.
The draft CGFP developed by the Victorian planning department sets height limits for development near the Geelong train station starting from 28m and up to 60m on Mercer St; between 28m and 42m around Deakin University and the bay end of Moorabool St; and between 21m and 42m in the area bordered by Mercer St, Ryrie St, Bellarine St and Brougham St.
Geelong council wants to grow the CBD population from about 2000 to 10,000 people by 2026, and the state government wants it at 12,000 people by 2052.
A state government spokeswoman said the plan was due to be released shortly.
“We are working to deliver a framework that will see the best outcomes for Victoria’s second-largest city– when planning for its growth we’ll take the time to make sure the decisions we make now provide the best results for Geelong’s future.”
Tract senior town planner Simon Loader said government officers were rewriting the framework plan last year.
“Beyond July it is a bit unclear as to what the hold-up was,” Mr Loader said.
“Was the full framework plan refresh needed? If you take it on face value that it was needed, now it’s about creating certainty.
“For the last two to three years the development industry (interested in the Geelong CBD) has been in no man’s land about understanding what the rules of engagement are for different sites.
“Government officers have been doing a good job of trying to guide prospective purchasers about what’s allowed on their sites.”
Geelong chair of the Property Council of Australia, Nat Anson, said major CBD development already approved but not constructed could change after the plan was released.
“It’s not a situation where only prospective proposals may be impacted by the lack of a finalised framework plan, it is also projects that are already in the pipeline that are yet to commence,” Mr Anson, who is also director at planning consultant Urbis, said.
“The ability for prospective purchasers to do accurate due diligence on sites is difficult when there is uncertainty about what the site can deliver.
“There may be changes (to development rules) that are favourable to re-evaluating the potential of the site.”
Mr Anson said there was “massive interest’ in Geelong from developers, and the release of the plan would bring certainty to the city.
DEVELOPMENT PLANNED FOR THE GEELONG CBD
20-28 Brougham STREET
One of the city’s most ambitious projects pairs property heavyweights Dean Montgomery and Melbourne-based developer Gurner in a $300m venture.
The pair want to build to 77m which would include a five-star hotel, luxury apartments and “a hospitality offering at the ground floor that will be reminiscent of Chelsea Market in New York”.
Developer Tim Gurner told the Addy last year the 2100sq m parcel was one of the last remaining prime Geelong CBD waterfront sites with north-facing water views.
The site already has a planning permit approved to build to 60m but Mr Gurner and Mr Montgomery want that increased.
35 CORIO STREET GEELONG
Spearheaded by the Amber Property Group, the Cunningham Place development is proposed to house five-star hotel, apartments, a supermarket and conference centre in a $250m project.
Amber chief operating officer Jevan Clay told the Addy last year the project was “shovel ready”, with an agreed funding partner in place.
The development is planned to include a 5000sq m conference space, including a 650-seat auditorium to be available to the community, a 168-room hotel, restaurants, co-working office space and more than 40 apartments.
The project went to the state government last year for approval.
10-18 Brougham Street
Plans with the state government propose to transform the former Elders real estate office into a multi-storey office and retail building.
The Geelong Advertiser understands a 13-storey office tower is being proposed at the site that has been designed by Gray Puksand Architects.
Information posted on a development website states the ground floor of the development will have space for four office tenancies, and a three-storey podium that will incorporate car parking for the tower.
It is planned to have 35 and 45 car parking spades on the first and second floors of the podium respectively, according to the website.
The 1800-square-metre parcel of land with a 60m frontage, that is 150m from the Geelong train station, sold last year.
It was likely the price tag for the site was between $8m and $10m given the price of recently sold blocks in the vicinity.
144-150 MYERS STREET
The site of the Myers St medical centre is pinned for a mixed-use building comprising two commercial tenancies and upper-level dwellings. Plans also seek to reduce the statutory car parking requirement for the development.
118 Corio Street
Plans for seven two-bedroom, three-storey homes were approved when the 521-square-metre site was put “under contract” in 2018.
Situated between Bellarine St and Yarra St and off Malop St, elevated homes on this block bordered by Hays Place would likely have bay views.
In December last year Realestate.com.au valued the property between $1.13m and $1.5m.
The block previously sold for $838,750 in March 2018 and for $962,500 in October 2016, according to Realestate.com
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Originally published as State government in slow lane for approvals of massive CBD developments
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