NEARLY 18 percent of commercial properties in Frankston’s city centre are vacant, an audit has revealed.
Frankston Council audited 563 properties in the Frankston CBD this month. The city centre was found to have a commercial property vacancy rate of 17.8 percent, not inclusive of vacant commercial properties which are vacant land, properties currently under development, or properties obviously damaged and requiring remediation works.
Artworks by Chisholm Institute designs students are being put on display in empty Frankston CBD shopfronts in a bid to make them more attractive. Deputy mayor Liam Hughes said the artwork project would “transform our CBD into a more business-friendly place.”
“It provides local students with a great opportunity to showcase their design skills to the broader community while making our city centre a more vibrant and attractive place to start up a new business. It’s a win for everyone in our community,” he said.
Art has been installed in six windows so far. Ten more pieces have been prepared.
Chisholm students Syd Gonsalvez, Catie Sharp, Ryan Scott, Zoe Farmer, Kana McHaffie, David Cossigny, Kayla Newton, and Faiqa Omar helped create the artworks. Chisholm Institute chief of education Conor Mullan said, “we have a long-term commitment to art and design education, and providing students with real-world opportunities to put their training into practice.”
Frankston Council says that it contributed money towards the decals, approximately $300, and $1700 for the installation. Council CEO Phil Cantillon said the project is part of a wide range of measures taken to fill vacant properties.
“Council provides a range of support services to fill vacant shops including assistance with finding a suitable business location – often including introductions to managing real estate agents as well as extensive direct outreach marketing including cold calls and exhibiting at business expos, to potential business operators, encouraging them to come to Frankston City,” Cantillon said. “Council also provides facade improvement grants – available to both commercial property owners to enhance the appearance of their property as well as existing business operators – and business grants, with $150,000 in façade improvement grants and $179,904 in business grants having been recently awarded to businesses.”
