Last October Gurner Group founder, Tim Gurner, met with Geelong mayor Dr Stretch Kontelj and declared the project would “put Geelong on the global map”. At the time it was suggested the development would be valued at more than $1 billion.
Gurner said it would include a 19-storey mixed-use tower at the end of the pier with a 199-room, five-star luxury hotel and apartments. The proposal went alongside a partnership with the local Costa Property Group, founded by Geelong identity, the late Frank Costa.
The developer’s latest vision for the pier is a precinct designed by American architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), responsible for Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.
The latest plan suggests a 34-storey tower at the end of the pier featuring a luxury 200-room hotel and 280 apartments, plus a dozen over-water villas around the pier, each with glass-bottom living rooms and their own superyacht berths as part of the grand plan. The development would be the tallest tower in the city and also offer retail and hospitality spaces.
The City of Greater Geelong currently has a planning framework that limits building heights to 60m – roughly 15-18 storeys – within its central city area. Developers with proposals beyond that limit usually approach the state planning minister to override local government controls.
The 70-year-old, 300m-long pier is owned by the Costa Group and is across the road from Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre and its adjacent Crowne Plaza hotel.
Currently the pier has a restaurant and event space and is used for car parking during the day.
This is not the only plan Gurner has for Geelong, having first announced in March 2022 that a $300 million mixed-use tower would be built, incorporating the circa-1872 Dennys Lascelles wool store in Brougham Street. This development would also feature a luxury five-star hotel with 120 keys, plus 120 private apartments and ground floor hospitality facilities. The development is still listed on the Gurner Group website.
In Melbourne, Gurner Group has billion-dollar projects planned or underway in Docklands and South Yarra.
