Glenvill, Qualitas secure ex-Banksia La Trobe college

Banyule council listed the sites marked orange last May.

The City of Banyule will sell the former Banksia La Trobe Secondary College and adjoining sites to Glenvill Group.

The 2.2 hectare block at 232 Banksia Street, Bellfield, was put to tender last May.

The parcel comes permit ready for three apartment buildings of up to five storeys.

Townhouses, rising four floors, are also planned as is a new road connected to Perkins Avenue.

Colliers’ Hamish Burgess, Robert Papaleo and Joe Kairouz represented council.

Glenvill calls in partner

Glenvill has called in Qualitas for the $220m redevelopment; the financier, it is understood, will tip in an initial $30m.

Construction is set to begin in early 2023 and be completed within four years after that.

Launch Housing will deliver a social housing investment on a site opposite the block’s eastern boundary.

Bellfield is about nine kilometres north east of Melbourne (story continues below).

Three ex-school sites sold

Council acquired 232 Banksia St with two other ex-schools from the Napthine government for a total of $23.2m in 2012.

Two years later it sold one of them – the former Bellfield Primary School, in Ivanhoe – for $22.1m to Stockland which replaced it with 81 townhouses.

It offloaded the other at about the same time – the redundant Haig Street Primary School in Heidelberg Heights traded to Metricon which has constructed 118 dwellings.

“There is so much happening in this area with council already starting construction of its…$11.7m community hub, which will be home to a range of council services for the young and old, plus a community garden and social enterprise café,” Banyule mayor and councillor Rick Garotti said following the Banksia La Trobe Secondary College sale.

“This pocket of Bellfield is a great example for other councils and levels of government on how to form partnerships and transform an idle space into a thriving and sustainable community precinct,” he added.

Glenvill chief executive officer Len Warson said the company plans to market the project’s first stage early next year.

The developer is also replacing the former Amcor paper mill, in Alphington, as a predominantly residential village, Yarra Bend.

Subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page.

Share or Recommend article

Marc Pallisco

A former property analyst and print journalist, Marc is the publisher of realestatesource.com.au.