School site plan blessed with affordable housing

A redevelopment mixing apartments with housing for the disabled and aged is set to replace a Catholic primary school in central Geelong.
Gartland Real Estate announced this week that St Mary’s Parish had sold its Myers Street property to not-for-profit company Common Equity Housing after receiving Vatican approval to put the school on the market.
Common Equity Housing’s Peter Dunn said the redevelopment would include “some suitable commercial activity to achieve a good balance” on the site.
He described Common Equity as a developer of “quality, affordable housing” around the state, with a “significant presence” in Geelong.
The company has yet to finalise precise plans, which will have to go through a council approval process. An historic hall and parts of the school building will be covered under heritage protection.
Parish Priest Father Kevin Dillon said he was pleased the redevelopment included an affordable housing component.
“I am confident St Mary’s parishioners and many others who have a long-standing connection with the site will be at ease with the proposed development,” he said.
“The future use of the site should sit very comfortably with its role over many years as a place of worthwhile community service”.
The parish will relocate the primary school to a nearby site.
Real estate agent Bob Gartland said the site attracted “extremely high” interest from potential buyers.
He called it “one of the most exciting central sites to go on the market in Geelong in recent history”.