One of Australia’s largest property developers has entered Geelong, acquiring a Charlemont landholding that’s double the size of an inner city suburb.
Frasers Property Australia revealed it has acquired the 60ha Torquay Rd site that has an existing planning permit in place.
The mixed-use development would comprise more than 720 homes and deliver a community facility, neighbourhood shopping centre, a local park and open space.
Frasers Property Australia has acquired a 60ha site at Charlemont for a housing development including more tha 720 homes. Picture: Alan Barber
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Frasers Property executive general manager development Emily Wood said the developer expected the first sales release to launch in mid-2027, and the project to be delivered over five years.
The property between Torquay Rd and Barwarre Rd and south of railway line between Waurn Ponds and Marshall train stations is double the size of the suburb of Drumcondra.
It includes an 8000sq m site for a community facility, to be delivered by City of Greater Geelong, that’s likely to include a kindergarten, childcare and community meeting space, while the council also plans to deliver 39,700sq m of active open space, designated as athletics track or sports field and pavilion.
The main farmhouse is set near the centre of the Torquay Rd property.
Rundown farming facilities are among the only improvements on the landholding in Geelong’s south.
A 5000sq m site for a shopping centre, designated for a future supermarket, childcare, medical or food and beverage retailers, will be delivered by a third party, while Frasers Property will create a 7500sq m central park.
The site is at the edge of Geelong’s booming southern growth corridor with transport links to Geelong’s CBD, the Geelong Ring Road and Torquay beaches, and also close to schools and Armstrong Creek Town Centre.
Ms Wood said Geelong is a strong market that offered a lifestyle play for homebuyers.
“We’ve been keeping an eye on (Geelong) for a little while now, and we’ve seen the fantastic development that’s occurred, particularly in that Armstrong Creek corridor,” Ms Wood said.
An aerial outline of the 60ha Charlemont property acquired by Frasers Property, which is immediately south of the railway line between Marshall and Waurn Ponds station, and surrounds Barwon Health aged care facility, Alan David Lodge.
“If you look at people weighing up their opportunities, particularly with affordability starting to come into the market a lot, Geelong is a fantastic proposition where you’ve got access to amazing beaches, a great township, you’ve got fantastic education and school opportunities, and all within an hour from Melbourne by train,” she added.
“It’s a really great proposition for young families and first-time buyers who are looking to get into the market.”
Ms Wood said the project would offer diverse housing lots from 300sq m to 600sq m.
“And we are doing a lot in that townhome space that’s really looking to deliver a great affordable product,” she said.
Fraser Property’s move into Geelong comes at a challenging time for the market, particularly in Victoria, Ms Wood said.
Iona College is 500m from the development site. Picture: Alan Barber
“There’s a few things at play, obviously with all of the talk about tax settings and changes that are at a federal level, and even at a Victorian level, there’s been a huge amount of tax impost being put on the property market, so I think it’s a difficult time at the moment,” she said.
“When you step back from it, Victoria represents a great value proposition from an affordability perspective right now, compared to the other states around Australia. We see it as a real opportunity for long-term growth in the value in the market at the moment.”
The Geelong purchase was announced along with a Queensland deal where Frasers Property acquired of freehold land and development rights from Perron Group and the late Ross Atkins to the SkyRidge masterplanned community development on the Gold Coast for circa-$170m.
The Geelong and SkyRidge acquisitions follow Frasers Property’s recent sales of completed assets including Eastern Creek Quarter in Sydney for $400m and Burwood Brickworks in Melbourne for $107.25m.
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