Shop-top living plan

Jessica Benton
GEELONG could have Melbourne’s inner-city lifestyle with residents living in converted shop tops, according to council planners.
The shop-top living option is part of plans to lure more residents into the city area as part of a State Government Central Geelong Urban Living program. The program promotes apartment-style living in central Geelong as well as waterfront developments such as Edgewater and Pier Point.
Council planning portfolio holder Andrew Katos said “shop-top” accommodation was ideal for vacant city buildings or unused rooftop space.
“There’s a real potential for studio style developments and apartments above shops in the city centre,” Cr Katos said.
“It’s a logical progression if the spaces are not being used in a commercial sense. It creates urban infill and a cosmopolitan lifestyle and there’s already the infrastructures in place.”
Central Geelong Marketing data reveals the city area has vacant 116 ground-level and 30 upper-level shops as well as six blocks of land either empty or with developments under construction.
Cr Katos said shop-top living could help solve the city area’s blight of empty shops because the extra residents would attract additional business operators.
The residents would also add “vibrancy” and help lower street violence, he said.
City central Geelong and waterfront manager Steve Bentley said apartment housing was growing in popularity.
“As the Geelong area grows and changes, so does the demand for smaller, more-compact dwellings close to shops, jobs, transport, education and entertainment,” he said.
The City had a five-year plan aiming for about 5000 people living in central Geelong, Mr Bentley said.
About 3000 were already in the area, including in apartments along the waterfront.
“There’s lots of opportunity to accommodate these people as there’s quite an amount of vacant space,” Mr Bentley said.
However, he conceded inner-city living would be beyond the reach of many home buyers.
“A property in Baylie Place is on the market for $1.1million. It’s a beautiful example of an inner-city warehouse renovation and there are probably 100 more properties in Geelong that could be similarly transformed.
“That’s what we’re trying to encourage but, at the end of the day, we don’t own the properties, so we need motivated landlords and investors.”