Corio South Primary School site nets huge price at auction

38-56 Vermont Ave, Corio, sold for $5.64 million.

The State Government has earned a $1 million bonus from the sale of the former Corio South Primary School.

The 2.02ha infill development site at 38-56 Vermont Ave, Corio, sold for $5.64 million at auction.

The sale tipped $1 million more than the government expected from the sale process.

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Savills agents Julian Heatherich, Benson Zhou and Nick Garoni handled the hotly contested auction which generated 90 bids and sold to a local developer.

The vacant site is suited to a variety of development outcomes and has a triple street frontage.

The former school site is adjacent to Goldsworthy Reserve and was sold after the school was closed in the creation of Northern Bay College.

The sale result represented a price over $1 million over reserve with the land market continuing to outperform expectations right across Melbourne’s growth areas and Victoria’s major regional cities.

137-167 Cox Rd, Norlane, is for sale as an approved development site.

Mr Heatherich said that inquiry on large scale development sites has increased substantially toward the end of 2021.

“As many developers close out on current major projects, and with limited sites being offered to market throughout the pandemic, the quantity of inquiry and underbidders on development sites has increased significantly in Q4 with an increasing number of developers looking to add to their pipelines for 2022,” he said

“Infill sites suitable for townhouses and residential subdivision, continue to be hotly contested within the current market, sustained by strong demand for the finished project, particularly from first homeowners.”

The State Government is also preparing to sell the former Rosewall Primary School site on Sharland Rd, Corio, along with former school sites at Colac, Swan Marsh and Cressy.

Meanwhile, the former Norlane High School site has returned to the market with a planning permit for a masterplanned community with 68 residential lots and five super lots, capable of holding townhouse developments, aged care or retirement facilities.

The lender has taken possession of the 63,160sq m property at 137-167 Cox Rd, which is up for offer through a mortgagee tender campaign as a prized residential zoned holding.

The property is expected to top $10 million, eclipsing its previous $9.35 million sale in 2018.

Danny Clark and Andrew Waddell at Gross Waddell ICR and Tim Darcy of Darcy Jarman are handling the tender process, which closes December 9.

The freehold to the Parkwood Motel at 8-10 Lily St, Hamlyn Heights, was offered to investors.

Meanwhile the freehold to a western suburbs motel complex was snapped up for $1.63 million at auction.

The 2049sq m property at 8-10 Lily St, Hamlyn Heights, was offered as a set-and-forget investment site with future redevelopment potential.

The operators of the Parkwood Motel, built by former Cats great Bob Davis in the 1970s, hold a 16-year lease on the property.

Harcourts, North Geelong agent Joe Grgic said the length of the lease had turned off a number of buyers, who thought 16 years was too long to wait before tapping in to the development potential of the land.

He said a number of potential buyers thought the $1.25 million to $1.35 million price hopes was the maximum they were prepared to pay, given how long the lease has to run.

The Melbourne buyer was purchasing purely as an investment, he said.

However, Mr Grgic said the value of the property would climb significantly as the end of the ease approached.