Plans a step closer for largest vacant site in Geelong West

The vacant 3538sq m parcel of land at 18-24 Andrews St, Geelong West has sold after an expressions of interest campaign.

A Melbourne buyer has seized on the largest parcel of development-ready land in Geelong West as the city prepares for a boost in townhouse construction.

The 3538sq m site at 18-24 Andrews St, Geelong West, has been snapped up in a circa-$3.5m deal following an expressions of interest campaign that unearthed significant statewide interest in the vacant inner city property.

Maxwell Collins Geelong director Nick Lord said the land was previously owned by Telstra and had been vacant for many years before the vendors purchased it.

The sale comes the same month after a $60m, four-storey apartment project comprising 56 homes was approved in the suburb.

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The campaign highlighted the significant interest in development land in one of Geelong’s favourite inner city hot spots, with five bidders submitting offers through the process, selling to a Melbourne developer.

“It’s a unique parcel of land on that sort of side in Geelong. I’m not sure about his future plans in the short term. It’s obviously a pretty unique site for someone to develop, and a great result of the vendor.”

The circa-$3.5m price reflected an around $1000 per square metre land rate for the long-vacant site.

The vacant 3538sq m parcel of land has two street frontages.

“And a lot of people throughout the process never even knew the site was there,” Mr Lord said.

“Obviously people would commute down Britannia St, with Andrews St just being the one street back, a lot of people would ring and be surprised that was even sitting there without obviously driving past. It was a good test for the market and a great result for the vendor.”

The level of inquiry from Melbourne developers underlined the demand in Geelong West.

New townhouse developments are popping up across the suburb, with recent four-bedroom red brick residences on Andrews st attracting interest around $1.2m.

A render of the Hope & Autumn development of 56 apartments, which was approved for a site between Hope St and Autumn St, Geelong West.

“There was a large amount of Melbourne developers keen to get information from us. A number of those were the parties to partake in the expression of interest campaign,” Mr Lord said.

“It shows Geelong is on the radar, obviously, statewide and nationally, as far as a great opportunity for future development and capital growth.

“I think some of the blueprints we see throughout Melbourne, in some of the areas whether it be around South Yarra and Malvern, are some of the blueprints people are looking at doing with this development.

The four-bedroom townhouse at 57 Britannia St, Geelong West, sold recently for circa-$1.2m.

“It would give a lot of buyers confidence that they know that Geelong West that the resale value is quite solid. We look forward to seeing what they build on it.”

The property was even more attractive, given the framework shaping the future of Pakington St and with local schools close by, Mr Lord said.

The proximity of Geelong West to the city’s rail corridor means sites such as this will be seen as important to meeting high in-fill residential housing targets.

The site has frontages to Andrews and Mowat streets and the only substantial green space in the western part of the suburb outside of Bakers Oval and the primary school grounds.

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