The burgeoning expansion of one of Australia’s fastest growing regional cities has been bolstered with Franzé Developments securing planning approval from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning for its $150 million Geelong development – the largest mixed-use project in the region.

Located at 44 Ryrie Street within the Geelong Activity Centre Zone, the 2,700 square metre gateway site will comprise a 180 bed hotel, 1,000 square metres ground floor retail, 7,400 square metres office space and 24 residential apartments, all connected by a highly activated street level plane with public access.

In a coup for Geelong’s hotel and tourism sector, global hotel operator InterContinental Hotels Group signed a 20-year management agreement to operate the 180 bed hotel in late 2017. The $75 million Holiday Inn & Suites Geelong will be the first in Australia and the largest new hotel project in the region in almost 20 years.

Demolition is underway and construction is scheduled to commence in late 2018, with completion expected in mid 2020.

The Holiday Inn & Suites Geelong is scheduled to open in 2020 and will target the longer stay segment of the tourism market. The property will include an all-day dining restaurant and bar, swimming pool, gym, parking and 300 square metres of meeting facilities, including a function room for 250 people.

Paul Franzé, Founder and Managing Director of Franzé Developments says he is thrilled to receive approval for the gateway site as Geelong develops into the region’s epicenter for retail, tourism and employment due to its strong population and economic growth.

“Our vision for the Ryrie Street site is to deliver a truly mixed-use project that responds to the Central Geelong Action Plan which will see Geelong evolve from its manufacturing roots to a city of culture and innovation. Geelong is now one of Australia’s fastest growing regional cities, with population expected to grow by more than 150,000 people in the next 20 years, and the urban environment and amenity needs to respond accordingly.

Architectus, the design studio behind 1 Bligh Street, Sydney and 383 La Trobe Street, Melbourne (in collaboration with world renowned architect Ateliers Jean Nouvel), has been appointed as the project design team, with Hansen Partnership managing the project’s urban planning.

The orientation of the site forms a 90 metre northern frontage to Ryrie Street with a physical split, creating a public thoroughfare linking Ryrie Street to Cuzens Place. The tower elements vary in height across the precinct, with subtle articulation of each component’s (hotel, office and apartments) personality throughout the design.

The offices and apartments will have access to communal outdoor spaces and a vertical green wall is proposed to face Ryrie Street to create a backdrop for the plaza and connect the planting from ground level to the podium terraces. The upper levels will access views towards Corio Bay and beyond.

The site, which was home to John Orchard Furniture and was previously an intercity bus depot, was purchased from John Orchard for $7 million in 2017.

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