19 Jun 2023
A leading Geelong property developer has revealed plans to expand the popular West End foodie strip on to one of the city’s main thoroughfares.
Bill Votsaris, who bought a landmark CBD building at auction last week for $3.5m, revealed his vision to connect Little Malop St through to Malop St.
The building at 16-18 Malop St includes an 865sq m landholding that features a 5m street frontage to Dennys Place, which was recently linked to Malop St through an existing building.
But Mr Votsaris has seized on the access though Dennys Lane to propose what he described as a food hall in the ground floor of the Malop St building which has a circa 600sq m floorspace.
Mr Votsaris, through Batman Management Group, owns the properties immediately behind the building.
“The property becomes quite an important property to the West End precinct as far as hospitality is concerned,” Mr Votsaris said.
“We’re very grateful and value what the state government has done with the Dennys Place development to Malop St.
“We believe that particular property actually becomes more inviting (as a result of the laneway to Malop St), so we intend to connect, via hospitality activities, Malop St to Dennys Lane.
“This particular parcel and the building lends itself to be a cracker hospitality venue because it’s got the old fabric but also it backs on to our other property, which includes Bell’s Brewery and Mav’s Restaurant.”
The foodie precinct is also set to break out to Moorabool St, where workers are demolishing the old Lloyds Corner building to make way for the Votsaris’ business’s plans to build a new building roughly equal in height to the neighbouring former Commercial Bank of Australasia building.
It’s hoped the proposed building would have hospitality tenants across all three levels, including on the rooftop.
Mr Votsaris said the hospitality precinct was playing a vital role in encouraging further residential development in Geelong’s CBD because it offered signs of life for prospective apartment buyers.
“I think the area is still in its infant stage,” Mr Votsaris said.
“To get into this stage it takes a lot of effort to get to the next stage it probably takes a bit less effort because the foundations are pretty sound.”
Mr Votsaris said expanding was about offering a different experience to make the destination more desirable for visitors and locals to Geelong.
“It happens more as a night economy at the moment because in the daytime central Geelong is still a challenge with most places still not all back at work,” he said.
“And also the lack of population in central Geelong, but all these things are forward thinking and we see this as a desirable offering that will grow. The more we connect the important streets like Malop St, it helps everyone.”
Two groups made bids on the two-storey building, where the Salvation Army had recently closed a ground floor op shop.
Costa Asset Management general manager, property Todd Devine was the underbidder at Thursday’s auction.
A legal firm leases the first floor space in the building which was previously the long-term city home to Geelong’s Community Care Chemist.
Auctioneer Raoul Salter passed in the property when the price reached $3.225m. Negotiations ensured as soon as the auction was over.
Darcy Jarman, Newtown agent Andrew Prowse said the owner decided to test the market after the Salvation Army revealed it wouldn’t renew its lease on the 600sq m ground floor. Mr Prowse said while a demolition clause in the first-floor lease would allow new owners to chart a grand redevelopment scheme, the majority of inquiry had been looking at repositioning the building and holding it long term.