Council close to choosing builder

GEELONG council is in the final stages of selecting its preferred developer to build the new $91 million city headquarters.

It is understood the council has received finalised concept designs, financial offers, value for money offers and development agreements from three short-listed developers for the proposed new building at 137 Mercer St.

City of Greater Geelong chief executive Martin Cutter this week confirmed the council would soon make its decision on the future of what is being spruiked as the new city centrepiece.

“The city is in the final stages of clarifying bids received from our short-listed tenderers in order to select a preferred developer,” Mr Cutter said.

“We expect to be able to announce our preferred development partner in the next two months.”

When announcing a trio of short-listed developers for the major project in March, the City of Greater Geelong noted it aimed to select its preferred developer by August — with time rapidly running out to meet that target.

The developers in the running for the coveted contract were picked from 11 tenderers earlier this year, and include Geelong-based Raffles Chatter Pty Ltd, WorkSafe building developer Quintessential Equity and epc. Pacific.

Developers were asked to pitch a building with 10,000sq m floor area, 120 car parks and an “active street level retail” space of 300sq m for the new city HQ.

The new headquarters will be used to consolidate the city’s nine offices into one central building, with council aiming to select its developer by August, see construction start in April 2020, and move in to the new headquarters in July 2022.

Council will engage with the community, staff and stakeholders to gather ideas for the new precinct, including public open space and connections with key parts of central Geelong.