Fast-track win for 12 warehouse project in Geelong’s north
Bisinella Business Park in Heales Rd, Corio, will provide 12 industrial warehouses. The first two will begin construction next year.
A Geelong developer will start building the first of 12 industrial warehouses early next year after winning fast-track approval for the project.
Bisinella Developments’ 10.9ha project was approved through the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning’s development facilitation program.
The Bisinella Business Park in Heales Rd, Corio will see 12 warehouses provide a total 45,000sq m floorspace within the Geelong Ring Road Employment Precinct.
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Chief executive officer Richard Bisinella said the first two warehouses were worth about $12m.
Construction could start next March, he said.
“We are already moving quickly with the commissioning of detailed designs for the first two warehouses which will comprise an initial investment of $12m,” Mr Bisinella said.
“Once the 12 warehouses are completed it is anticipated that 435 full-time equivalent jobs will be created annually.
Bisinella Business Park will be part of the Geelong Ring Road Employment Precinct, strategically positioned north of the Victoria’s second city.
“Geelong offers an excellent workforce and this development will help Geelong continue to prosper with new businesses and investment in jobs and the local economy.
Bisinella has a track record of investing in large-scale industrial warehouses on spec, then finding suitable tenants to sign up to lease agreements.
Founder Lino Bisinella bought his first parcel of land in the area 60 years ago for $10,000, hedging it was a safe bet the freeway would one day pass the property.
The Lara-based business now owns, leases and manages more than 110,000sq m of warehouse space in the Geelong region, and has another 20ha of land to develop within the Geelong Ring Road Employment Precinct.
Bisinella Developments chief executive officer Richard Bisinella, right, said construction is set to start next year. Picture: Mark Wilson
Mr Bisinella said a number of businesses have already established within the precinct, including RPC Technologies, Civilmart, AKS Industries Australia and Velocity Truck Centres.
A wide variety of businesses were showing interest in relocating to the area, or boosting their presence in the northern Geelong corridor, which offers easy road, rail, sea and air transport links, he said.
The Geelong Ring Road Employment Precinct is the city’s largest designated growth area for industrial development and one of only a handful of places in Victoria with Industrial 2 zoned land available.
“Corio continues to grow as a strategic location for industry, and given the investment and jobs that this development will create, and the fact that it received no objections, it is the perfect example of the role the state can play in stimulating and encouraging this sort of investment, and in ensuring a strategic approach that delivers the best outcomes for the region,” Mr Bisinella said.
