News

Keystone Stage 1 - Home to Homemaker

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:29:00 GMT

The first Stage of the Keystone Business Park kicked off this week with the launch of land sales in Stage 1 on the Barwon Heads Road boundary of the Park.

Stage 1 land of the master planned business park will have specific precincts that include a homemaker centre, trade supplies precinct, office park, service centre and general business and industry offer. This section of the Business Park is expected to include up to 50,000 m2 of floor space where up to 2000 people will work.

With Stage 1 having 40 allotments over 34 hectares, the Directors of Keystone Business Park see the homemaker and trade supplies precincts as being particularly relevant for the area given the 22,000 new homes expected in the Armstrong Creek growth corridor.

“We think that Keystone will end up with the most substantial homemaker centre in the region servicing southern Geelong and the Bellarine and the Surf Coast,” said Keystone Director, Mr Trent Keirnan.

“Our location right on existing and future arterial roads, means that customers will have easy access and the fact that we are only a 10 minute walk from Marshall Station opens up public transport options for staff that other locations simply don’t have.”

“We are well advanced in detailed discussions with some major tenants for the Business Park who will join the Geelong Football Club at this green field location that will ultimately be home to hundreds of companies and in excess of 8,000 employees.”

“It’s fair to say that our planning arrangements and business model allow us a flexibility of approach to provide business accommodation solutions to our customers that they won’t find elsewhere and this has been a key factor in attracting interest in the Park.” concluded Mr Keirnan.

Keystone Business Park is now available for sale and lease opportunities. For more information click here or contact Bob Gartland from Gartland Real Estate on 0418 522 526.

Armstrong Creek's Employment Precinct Kicks Off

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:17:00 GMT

A vital part of the economic future of Armstrong Creek kicked off yesterday with the launch of the Keystone Business Park on the northern edge of Armstrong Creek. The newly announced business park, where over 8000 people will end up working, has opened up a whole new chapter in the economic and social development of Geelong.

According to Keystone Director Trent Keirnan this business park will not be like any commercial development seen in Geelong or Victoria for that matter. It will set new standards in employee and company accommodation and will be the foundation stone for Geelong’s commercial advancement in the 21st Century.

“We have taken all the features of the best business parks in Australia and internationally and are bringing them to Geelong. We will provide for and accommodate all businesses, core and support services, plus combine them with access to up to the minute broadband and recycled water technology.”

Mr Keirnan said that Armstrong Creek residents will be able to take up employment and business opportunities on their doorstep whilst being connected to the rest of the world.

“Keystone Business Park - Victoria’s newest master planned business park - deliberately supports industry clustering in precincts covering sectors such as trade supplies, health care, education, administration and retail with leading edge infrastructure including market leading communications and utilities provision.”

“We have already seen elsewhere in Australia how a properly master planned business park can deliver massive employment and business growth that will benefit residential growth areas.”

“In developments like Norwest Business Park in Sydney we have seen hundreds of companies establish operations employing thousands of new employees, who become new residents.”

“While servicing the local area, initial indications are that Keystone will attract businesses from outside the region bringing investment and people into Geelong. And this will have flow on benefits to the whole community.”

“Keystone will take business accommodation in the Geelong region to a whole new level again, and the services and amenity will make it an employment destination of choice.”

“The first precincts released will include a trade supplies cluster and master planned homemaker centre right on Barwon Heads Road and while this will service the broader Geelong region it will also mean that Armstrong’s Creek residents will have access to the goods and service they need as they establish themselves in their new homes.”

“We will also have available strata office and general industry offers at the start. Everyone in business has a place in Keystone.” concluded Mr Keirnan.

Keystone Business Park is now available for sale and lease opportunities. For more information click here or contact Bob Gartland from Gartland Real Estate on 0418 522 526.

Cats partnership makes connection with future vision

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 06:03:00 GMT

The Geelong Cats are delighted to announce a long term elite sponsorship agreement with Keystone Business Park that will result in the construction of an exclusive training venue within regional Victoria’s newest master planned business community.

The partnership with Keystone Business Park will provide the Cats with access to an exclusive training venue (ETV) located just 10 minutes from Simonds Stadium.

The ETV will consist of a world-class indoor training facility (approx 40m by 50m in size), as well as an MCG sized oval.

The venue is expected to be fully operational by 2013 at which point the Cats will obtain freehold ownership of the venue.

Geelong Cats chief executive Brian Cook said the establishment of an ETV will provide the players with the best possible opportunities to reach their potential.

“In an environment of equalisation with the draft and salary cap, this is an area where we can build and sustain a competitive advantage,” Cook said.

“This facility will see us have a training venue that will provide our incredibly skilled and accomplished staff with an equally impressive platform to get the most out of our playing group.”

“This is a significant partnership of shared values and shared vision and there is a clear commercial logic for both the Club and Keystone in this partnership.”

“As a welcome benefit to this agreement, Simonds Stadium will now be freed up for increased community use and opportunities for other worthwhile events in the Geelong region.”

Keystone Business Park Director Trent Keirnan said that the partnership connects Keystone, Australia’s next generation business park, with one of the nation’s most successful sporting organisations.

“This agreement is far more than a traditional sponsorship, but rather a partnership that helps to create a legacy for the Cats,” Mr Kiernan said. “We are thrilled to be embarking on a long term partnership that is beneficial for Keystone, the Cats and the wider business community of Geelong..”

“Keystone’s focus is on providing state-of-the-art amenities to businesses and employees, establishing Geelong as a first choice employment area in the region and as a key business address in Victoria. To attract the Cats as our number one ticket holder is an indication of an exciting future at Keystone.”

Work is set to start on the ETV in July 2012, with the first stage of Keystone’s 178HA master planned Business Park now available for sale and lease.

Find out more here

Geelong is Top Cat

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 06:23:00 GMT

Geelong's office market has outpaced east coast rivals Newcastle and the Gold Coast to become the best-performing regional city in Australia.

Todd Devine, director of commercial services for Opteon Victoria, said A-grade office rents in Geelong were comparable to Melbourne's suburban office market. He said rents for prime-quality office accommodation in Geelong had doubled in the past eight years in line with the low vacancy rate.

"Market rents for good office accommodation are in the vicinity of $200 to $225 per square metre while new buildings will attract rentals closer to $300 per square metre," Mr Devine said.

Opteon found Geelong had the lowest vacancy rate at 5.5 per cent, ahead of Newcastle (11.5 per cent) and the Gold Coast (24 per cent).

Mr Devine said there was a flight to quality with the construction of a 6,200 sq m office building pre-committed by by Centrelink and the Australian Taxation Office.

Opteon research manager, Richard Jenkins, said Geelong's central business district office market amounted to 231,249 sq m, of which, 12,721 sq m was vacant. He predicted Geelong's total office stock would outgrow Newcastle within two years.

Mining magnate Nathan Tinkler may hold the key to Newcastle's future after he acquired an 18,000 sq m development site in the town's CBD. The site has the potential to redefine the city centre and is suitable for retail, office and residential uses.

Angus Klem, managing director of CB Richard Ellis Newcastle said construction would soon begin at Mr Tinkler's other commercial development, Honeysuckle Central, which comprises 22,700 sq m of office space in five office buildings.

"The final stages of the Lee Wharf development are also likely to be spurred on by pre-committments with a forecast completion after 2013," Mr Klem said. He said a lack of new A-Grade supply should force up rents in Newcastle.

In comparison, on the Gold Coast rental growth has been reversed. Colliers International Gold Coast director Stewart Gilchrist, said the largest markets of Bundall, Southport and Robina were still grappling with massive oversupply.

"On the Gold Coast, it only takes four new and large buildings to come on stream and we're oversupplied for quite some time, meaning now is one of the most advantageous times for tenants to relocate," Mr Gilchrist said. "Rents have probably come back by around 20 per cent on their face value and incentives are now at 20 to 30 per cent."

Office Space in Short Supply

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:30:00 GMT

A NEW report on the state of offices in Geelong's CBD has found more than half the market is of extremely poor quality, while there is little or no higher-quality offices available around town.

While the report, by Opteon Victoria, found Geelong had one of the country's lowest office vacancy rates, attracting new business to the city would be near impossible with the glut of second-class office space.

According to the report, 67 per cent of all office space in Geelong is considered the lowest grade, while premium office space accounts for just 6 per cent of the market.

The grade of office space was rated on functionality and quality of finishes in Geelong's CBD office market.

"Secondary accommodation is becoming increasingly unattractive to tenants due to best-practice requirements in terms of fit-out design, while many tenants are also seeking space that meet environmental energy ratings," Mr Jenkins said.

Geelong's only premium-grade office space is the TAC building, while Government tenants occupy almost all the A-grade space.

There is little vacant space in the high-grade offices, while 86 percent of all vacant offices in Geelong are of poor quality, with the majority located in Brougham and Moorabool streets.

"At the moment, we've got an over-abundance of secondary grade stock and until you have new prime-quality office stock developed, you are going to struggle to attract new tenants into the Geelong CBD," Mr Jenkins said.

Opteon Victoria's Todd Devine said the second-class office space in Geelong had become redundant and was better suited to conversion for other uses.

"It at least requires refurbishment but the lack of car parking for much of this office accommodation will make conversion the more likely alternative," Mr Devine said.

Corio MP Richard Marles said increasing premium office space was the key to attracting new business.

"To get more offices based in Geelong is a real opportunity, but solving the premium-office-space question is clearly a critical piece of the puzzle," he said. "Getting people into the first floor of the Geelong CBD will bring life back to the CBD and if it's not office space then we need to be looking at innovative ways to encourage landlords to convert those spaces to housing."