Bounce back
LEONGATHA and Korumburra are attracting new businesses, with new stores opening in both towns and more on the way.
South Gippsland Shire Council has shored up some 20 genuine business leads following the recent Regional Living Expo in Melbourne.
In Leongatha, the town has welcomed a new providore store that has just opened in Bair Street, a new nursery, a new telecoms outlet ready to go, a new shoe shop on the way and the rebuild of the iconic Knight’s Garage complete.
Korumburra too is upbeat and forging ahead, with local businesses investing in the future of the town. Your Style Store and Korumburra Newsagency have relocated to new outlets, the butcher is open again and there are two new shops in Michaels IGA, being refitted and set to open.
Ranceby Dressmaking and Fabrication Fabrics is relocating to a big one stop shop and new business, Ampersand Books and Music, has opened in Commercial Street.
Korumburra Business Association president David Amor is pumped and said, “We are filling our shops. It is time for action.”
Council officers are busy trying to attract new business to the shire and reported to The Star on Friday the 20 legitimate business leads look promising for Leongatha, Korumburra and Foster. All are at different stages of progression and include industrial, home based and CBD/retail type enquiries.
This is additional to the work put in by council’s business expansion and development team at Burra Foods and the Pangrazzi Cheese Factory outside of Fish Creek.
A council spokesperson said, “What seemed to be popular was initial interest in lifestyle type properties, and also coastal living and proximity to Melbourne were also very popular for those considering a move.”
Another plus for Leongatha is the much anticipated completion of Bair Street’s Knight’s Garage.
Gutted by fire in 2010, the huge investment for the rebuild project had owner Tony Westaway in two minds, but he is thrilled the building is finished, and a piece of his family and Leongatha’s history has been preserved.
The building was built by his grandfather Vin Knight and Mr Westaway is proud his legacy will live on for many years to come.
“The shops are ready to just move in and I would like to them filled,” he said.
Mr Westaway said he had already had talks with some retailers and local professionals showing interest in his stylish, contemporary designed shop on Hyland Place, opposite Michael’s Supa IGA.
“The interest in this shop is encouraging and I would now like to see the front shop on Bair Street filled and believe this would be really great for the other Bair Street traders,” he said.
Mr Westaway was in talks with council following the recent Regional Living Expo in Melbourne and said he would like council to consider the iconic building for a new town art space.
“Local artists could display their work and they would love the huge space and high ceiling. It could even double as a tourist information office,” he said.
“I know there is funding out there for these types of developments and I would like the shire to consider this idea as I think it would be great asset for the new look Bair Street and the town.”
Brent Casbolt, the builder in charge of the Knight’s Garage rebuild, said the project took about 12 months to complete and he had about 15 local tradesmen working on the job.
Mr Casbolt said the building had come up well.
“I am really proud to have been part of the rebuild of one of Leongatha’s historic buildings,” he said.
Talking to The Star on Friday, Mr Casbolt said he has about seven big jobs on the go at the moment, including some major houses and renovations at Woolamai, Jeetho and Inverloch.
“We try and keep it local and the building industry for us is going well at the moment. Our eight crew on site and three in the office are all busy so that’s great,” he said.
Another developer investing in the future of Leongatha, Don Brown, who owns a string of Bair Street shops along with his wife Ailsa, said it had been hard to attract tenants and enquiry for the shops.
Both would like to see the shops full and business flourishing in Bair Street. Mrs Brown said council had an important role to play in attracting businesses to the area.
“I would love to see the shire continue to be active in this regard. They have an enormous role in helping to attract businesses to the area which is to everyone’s advantage,” she said.
“We are very keen to attract tenants and will negotiate on the rent but we just haven’t had the enquiry.”
Mr Brown said the larger spaces in the stores could be reworked to create smaller shop spaces.
When asked whether lack of parking around the shop spaces was an issue, Mr Brown agreed but said he had hoped the issue with the VicTrack land at the rear could be solved. This would open up the area for more valuable parking and access to Bair Street.
Mrs Brown said the completion of the heavy vehicle alternate route, late in 2016, could also create a new look Bair Street with more parking and therefore more prospects of tenants filling the spaces.
“Once the new route is created we’d see the re-development of Bair Street as a priority. This would open up more spaces for parking and for landscaping and beautifying the street,” Mrs Brown said.
Mrs Brown said none of the shops were officially on the market but said anything is for sale at the right price.
It is believed Best and Less still holds the lease on two of the shops (numbers 39 and 41 Bair Street) for some time yet, up to two years, but this lease could be broken if a new tenant came along.
Best and Less wasn’t viable and closed its store after only six months of trade.
Shops which are vacant and ready to be leased are numbers 37 and 43.
For enquiries on taking space, Alex Scott and Staff and Insight Real Estate are acting as agents for the Browns.
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