Mr Davidson purchased his first house in Geelong for $118,000 in 2005 and has been investing in the regional city ever since after seeing its potential early on and ignoring the negative publicity generated by the closure of the city’s Ford manufacturing site in 2016.
“I am very proud of our investment and pipeline of projects in Geelong and we have no intention of slowing down,” Mr Davidson said.
“We’re always on the lookout for our next site that can add value to the city.”
Up Property’s holdings included the Bush Inn on Corio Street, which now forms part of a larger 1760 sq m land holding where it plans to undertake a mixed-use development of 10-12 floors with an end value of $60 million.
It also purchased a commercial office building at 68 Gheringhap Street for $13.75 million, which will initially be refurbished (as part of a new 10-year lease with Geelong law firm Harwood Andrews) and later redeveloped.
Also looking to get in on the Geelong action is Andrew Sirianni’s Livv Developments, which has secured a permit for a $150 million office tower at 16 Gheringhap Street.
An artist impression of Livv Developments’ approved office tower
Known as Yale Place, the development will offer 13 levels of A-grade office space as well as city and waterfront views.
“With the shift to a more flexible working environment and the residential growth seen during and after the pandemic, we see a gap in the market to provide a better working environment for employers and employees that call Geelong home,” said Livv Developments general manager Marc Akkerman.
Colliers agents Chris Nanni and Kevin Tutty have been appointed to manage the leasing campaign of Yale Place,
High-rise development in the Geelong CBD is being encouraged through the new Central Geelong Framework Plan which hopes to lift the resident population to 16,000 people and those working in the CBD to 60,000 by 2050. The CBD is currently home to 2500 residents and 20,000 workers.
Other developers targeting Geelong with major projects include Amber Property Group, which received the green light last month to turn an entire city block into a $280 million hospitality, conference and residential precinct.