Developer confirms update in new homemaker centre which has Spudshed as its main tenant

Layers needed to make Geraldton’s new homemaker centre a reality — including a Spudshed as its star tenant — are being peeled away, with applications ready to be lodged with the City of Greater Geraldton.

Earlier this year, spud king Tony Galati revealed the next regional Spudshed would “probably” be in Geraldton and envisaged it would be open by mid-2024.

It has since been promoted as being the main tenant for a new homemaker centre on the city’s outskirts. The Woorree site on Horwood Road, formerly home to the old Ridge Cafe, is proposed to become HomePort Geraldton.

Development manager Mike Fitzgerald has provided some updates on the project.

The development submission is being done by the owners of the current land.

Mayor Shane Van Styn said there were no formal submissions made as of yet, but Mr Fitzgerald indicated the paperwork was not far away and the process was full-steam ahead.

Mr Fitzgerald said civil design had been completed to a level that was ready to be submitted to council and “an application had been made to demolish the old cafe building that has sat on the site for many years”.

“We have now made a further application to the WA Planning Commission, this time for subdivision approval to bring on the nine large lots being sold by ActiveWest Real Estate. These lots sit adjacent to the commercial precinct and are perfectly suited to accommodate service commercial businesses in need of profile and an excellent location between Webberton and Narngulu industrial areas,” Mr Fitzgerald said

Mr Fitzgerald and contributing architects held local workers in the forefront of their minds throughout the planning process. Mr Fitzgerald said they “have designed a shady outdoor seating area in the heart of the commercial precinct to provide some amenity for the many workers in the Narngulu area”.

Mr Fitzgerald has been in contact with prospective tenants, and witnessed the excitement for the development of the local retail landscape. He previously said the centre would be suited to bulk good retailers.

Hadley Missell, director of retail leasing at Colliers International and Phil Sorgiovanni of Active West Real Estate, will be taking the precinct on as a joint marketing project.

Mr Missell said: ”We have received a lot of interest from perspective tenants and we are delighted with the response to the project thus far.”