Developer Lodges Plans for $70m Geelong Towers

A developer has lodged $70 million plans for two 13-storey commercial buildings and a mixed-use precinct in Geelong.

The region is undergoing a resurgence through the pandemic with $4 billion in funding for Geelong Fast Rail to get under way in 2023.

Home sales are up 3.3 per cent compared to 2019, while house prices are up 4.2 per cent and units 2.5 per cent according Corelogic data.

The latest large-scale development lodged in the area is a 260-room hotel, 3,737sq m of office space, retail, dining and health club planned for 39-45 Gordon Avenue, Geelong West.

Gordon Avenue Property Trust purchased the site in 2016 for $4.9 million and made the submission to council.

The two towers will be separated by a plaza with a hotel lobby, retail space, cafes and pedestrian link to Spring Street designed by Clarke Hopkins Clarke.

Related: Quintessential Develop Geelong’s Civic Precinct

The buildings will revitalise the area as an active and bustling place to visit according to the development application.

“This proposal represents a tangible step towards transforming Gordon Avenue into an urban village,” the planning report said.

It currently takes just over an hour to travel from Melbourne to Geelong but under the Victoria’s Big Build plan this will drop to 50 minutes after the new fast rail is installed.

The state and federal governments each committed $2 billion to the project which will run through Werribee, taking 8km off the journey.

Construction work has also commenced on the $220 million Geelong Civic Precinct by developer Quintessential Equity.

The Civic Precinct will allow the council to consolidate seven offices into one new purpose-built building.

Once complete, the new offices will save the city $2 million per year in rent and energy costs.

This project was part of a $1.1 billion tranche of planning permits issued by the state government in response to Covid.

Further west along the Victorian coast, development of a $350 million sports precinct is under way at Cape Otway in the Surf Coast Shire.