Construction of 1 Malop St will start at the end of the month.
Geelong New $120m WorkSafe building getting closer at 1 Malop St
NAVARONE FARRELL, Geelong Advertiser
June 7, 2016 1:42pm
CONSTRUCTION of the $120m WorkSafe building in Geelong will start at the end of the month.
Featuring 12 floors above ground and two below, the 1 Malop St building will be the city’s tallest office building and house 700 WorkSafe staff.
The works are being undertaken by privately owned construction group Built.
Site manager John Fitzgibbon said that the demolition on the corner of Corio and Gheringhap streets was half complete and work on the new foundations was expected to begin late this month.
He estimated that by the end of the year there would be 150 workers on site, and by mid-next year at least 250.
By August, Built plans on having a crane erected for the 14-storey building and the raft slab in place for the works.
Mr Fitzgibbon recently relocated from Melbourne to Geelong for his position in order to raise his young family.
“I wanted to bring up my family in the area — especially having grown up in Warrnambool, having the freedom to get out and about as kids do, especially without the constraint of being in the CBD,” he said.
Site tour of 1 Malop St the WorkSafe building. Picture: Mike Dugdale
“We were looking at getting down here, we were worried about the commute so when the job was within grasp, I put my hand up.”
“It’s going to generate a lot of feel-good for the community. Everyone’s talking about it, asking what’s happening. It’s really good,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.
“You get to stop on the corner and have a chat to the locals and let them know what’s going on.”
Built’s director of new business Jen Marks said the company had a number of other projects in the pipeline.
An image of the new building.
“We’ve been planning our entry into Geelong for a while now as we recognise the potential for investment and growth,” she said.
“We are here for the long-term and committed to delivering many more projects in Geelong to support the economic regeneration of the local area and create more jobs and opportunities for local businesses and workers.”
By the project’s completion, Ms Marks said more than 1500 people would have been inducted into the site, with a completion date of early 2018.
“At this stage 80 per cent of the subcontractors Built has worked with have been locally sourced,” she said.
The project, masterminded by Quintessential Equity, will house 700 WorkSafe employees, who will begin to make the move from Melbourne in January 2018.
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