Two months after a $10.4 million plan to rebuild a building at the top of the former BHP Building in South Melbourne went ahead, the contractor had delivered.
“We are still in the planning stage,” said chief executive of the firm, Tony DiGiulio.
“The plan has been submitted to the planning authority.”
The firm had previously completed the work and the building had undergone a refurbishment.
“In the short term, we expect to have some work done in early 2019,” he said.
“Our expectation is to be back in business in the middle of the 2020s.”
DiGiilio said the project was expected to cost about $3.5 million.
“There is a lot of money to go around,” he added.
The company has been contracted to deliver the project to the city of Melbourne. “
However, we have completed the plan and we are going to start working on the details of it.”
The company has been contracted to deliver the project to the city of Melbourne.
“For this project, we are doing it on a fixed-term contract with a fixed annual budget of $3 million.
We have been contracted for this project for four years,” he explained.
“That is not an unusual contract for building projects in Melbourne.”
We are going from zero to 60 per cent of completion in three years.
“The site is currently owned by the Victorian Government, with a 50-year lease on the property currently in place.
The plan for the site had been for the property to be leased for an estimated 20 years, but DiGiillio said it would take about three to four years for the lease to be renewed.
“As long as we have the necessary funds, we would be able to do that.””
If the VLEEA doesn’t have the money for the rent and a suitable site in which to redevelop the property, we can look at alternative sites in the city,” he noted.
“As long as we have the necessary funds, we would be able to do that.”