THE City of Greater Geelong’s $50 million property sales plan is off to a strong start, with its Civic Centre Car Park surpassing its lofty price expectations and selling for $22.6 million.<\/p>\n
Colliers Geelong conducted the private auction last month at the city offices, Wurriki Nyal with a local property owner entering the winning offer.<\/p>\n
As a condition of the sale, the property must retain its 500 public car parks for at least 10 years.<\/p>\n
That provision, along with a delay on approval of the Central Geelong Framework Plan that is currently with the state government, means short-term development of the site is unlikely.<\/p>\n
Preston Rowe Paterson Geelong director Gareth Kent said the high price was a strong result for the council in what he said was arguably “the most significant future development parcel in Geelong”.<\/p>\n
“When you peel it back to its return of only $1.3 million or thereabouts, and throw into the capital expenditure that’s got to be spent on it, it’s a pretty low-yielding property.<\/p>\n
“It’s a unique asset, there’s only about half a dozen transactions on car parks across the country, and they’re all over the shop in terms of yield.”<\/p>\n
Mr Kent said he was “pleased” to see the property remain in local hands, which he said would likely produce the best result for the Geelong community.<\/p>\n
“It’s a significant site, especially for what it provides the local area in terms of car parking.”<\/p>\n
Selling agent Ben Young said the result reflected healthy interest during the selling campaign.<\/p>\n
“We had good strong demand from the whole campaign, from local and national purchasers,” he said.<\/p>\n
Settlement is expected in June 2023 and existing leases will be honoured.<\/p>\n
The City of Greater Geelong had expected around $20 million for the 4,000-square-metre property when it announced its intention to sell the asset in the lead-up to its 2022-23 Budget.<\/p>\n
The car park is the first of four commercial properties the city will offload to boost its spend on infrastructure renewal across the region, with the sales expected to raise a total of about $50 million.<\/p>\n
The city’s Busport Car Park and offices at Brougham Street is the next property due to be sold early this year, followed by a ten pin bowling and maternal health site at Reynolds Road, Belmont and a KFC store on the Princess Highway, Corio in the next financial year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE City of Greater Geelong’s $50 million property sales plan is off to a strong start, with its Civic Centre Car Park surpassing its lofty price expectations and selling for $22.6 million. Colliers Geelong conducted the private auction last month at the city offices, Wurriki Nyal with a local property owner entering the winning offer. […]<\/p>\n