The historic former school building on Humffray Street could become offices or a medical centre, as its owners open a new expressions of interest process.
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The building has sat idle for years, and already has council approval for a boutique hotel.
But the Gull Group, which owns the building, is taking stock of the current situation through a pandemic lens, noting the rush of employers looking for bigger, more socially-distanced office space in regional cities.
There's "no intention of selling the building at all", Cameron Gull said, but the time is right to begin looking at the building's future.
"With the expansion of GovHub, and with more Melbourne businesses coming to Ballarat, we're looking at other opportunities," he said.
"That's why we've put out an expressions of interest campaign, because we think it's a unique offering in the CBD, with 40 car parks, a large square metre, and it's close to the train station.
"We're putting it out to the market to see what lands, and what level of inquiry we get."
The initial plans, released in 2018, were for a 22-room "New York-style" hotel, with new buildings to surround the heritage site for modern serviced apartments.
The school was built in the 1880s - it's marked as No. 34 - and decommissioned in the 1980s.
Former prime minister Robert Menzies was educated at the school, while more recently, it's been home to an antiques dealer.
The Gull Group is working with Colliers International on the new expressions of interest process - Colliers' Charles Kennedy said there was a high level of interest in commercial properties right across the city.
"It's a big building, it's got amazing bones to it from its historic past, and a lot of off-street car parking as well, factors which are invaluable here in Ballarat," he said.
"There's a huge uptick in demand for larger office spaces in the Ballarat CBD - companies in larger capitals are looking to diversify risk factors and move to larger locations.
"With the COVID response, very few people are working from the office, but that won't affect regional areas nearly as much."
Another high-profile inner CBD site will soon go up for auction - the former Dave Cassells repair shop on Doveton Street between Dana and Eyre streets.
Another Colliers property, agent Lauchlan Waddell said it was a "rare opportunity" - the site is in a commercial zone with a warehouse, but also has a residence.
"There's a lot of flexibility around the commercial 1 zoning, it can be anywhere from retail use, and potentially converting the residence to office space under the zoning, but there's also existing use of the residence as well," he said.
"There's always medical applications you could use the property for as well."
Despite the past 12 months of lockdowns and restrictions, the real estate market in Ballarat has remained buoyant, he added.
"We've seen some strong activity - industrial, retail, offices, hospitality's a big driver as well," Mr Waddell said.
"We're seeing quite a strong uptake in central Ballarat in the first half of this year, particularly around the 400 block of Sturt Street, where there's been a number of leases in the past month."
IN THE NEWS
The former State Bank site on the corner of Camp and Sturt streets is another heritage building that could become a thriving office block, currently on the market for about $2 million.
Speaking to The Courier last month, agents said it could be ideal for offices, retail, or hospitality - built in 1872, it was comprehensively remodelled in the 1990s.
Also in the CBD, applications will soon go before council for a large new medical centre proposed for the corner of Grant and Armstrong streets, which is currently a vacant block, while Ballarat's own PETStock moved into new offices this year in Bakery Hill, taking over a former retail showroom.
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