ApartmentsClare BurnettMon 22 Jun 26
Rezolve Plots Apartment Switch for Approved Geelong Office Scheme
Melbourne developer Rezolve has filed plans for a Geelong shoptop apartment tower as it pivots away from an office scheme approved for the site.
Now before the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning are plans for an 18-storey residential tower for the site at 16 Gheringhap Street and 12-18 Bayley Street in central Geelong.
In what is increasingly becoming the case for incomplete office projects, Rezolve went back to the drawing board after the previous plan was approved by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
The 2019 approval covered Rezolve’s Yale Place office project, a 17-storey building that would have comprised about18,000sq m of commercial office space.
The permit, which was amended in the interim, was conditionally approved to extend its date of commencement to March 2027 and completion in 2029.
However, according to the planning report to the DTP, there “have been significant unforeseen and demonstrable impacts to the construction industry that has limited the ability for the development to commence”.
In discussion with the agents of the office site, it was also determined that there would not be appropriate demand to justify undertaking an office project.
Rezolve’s latest application of 107 apartments seeks to amend the existing permit to introduce new uses, as well as new architectural design, “which is more responsive to market demands whilst ensuring that the project remains feasible and deliverable in the current market conditions”.
It would still have a nominal amount of office space; around 2795sq m or 15 per cent of what had been planned.
The remainder of the tower would comprise 34 one-bedroom, 57 two-bedroom and 16 three-bedroom homes.
Also proposed are 110 parking spaces in the podium of the building that has been designed by SMFA.
The developer still plans to start work on the project this year, the application said.
Rezolve’s application said the proposal “supports the intensification of residential land use within Central Geelong, providing much-needed contemporary housing options”.
The 1400sq m site is 90m from Deakin University and 310m from Geelong railway station in the heart of Victoria’s second city.
Other projects taking shape in the city include Morphy Birrell Property’s 25-storey tower and Up Property’s 121-home mixed-use scheme.
