Franco Cozzo’s landmark Footscray site will be transformed into an “employment centre” with a mix of office and retail space topped by residential or hotel accommodation, according to the developer who bought the site.
Star Weekly last month revealed that after half a century of selling furniture from his Hopkins Street store, Mr Cozzo had sold his 1088-square-metre premises to developer Pelligra Group.
Pelligra chairman Ross Pelligra said his aim is to use the site to create as many jobs as possible, while also meeting demand for housing or accommodation.
“Franco’s store was a jobs incubator when he first started up and we want to try and do something like that,” he said.
“We are really excited about the project.”
Mr Pelligra said the goal was to bring as many jobs as possible into the area by attracting a range of businesses to the site.
“We are also looking at a hotel or apartments, we’re running a feasibility study on both to see what is going to be most viable,” he said.
Mr Pelligra said his planners are working with Maribyrnong council to ensure they can create something suitable for the site that meets planning guidelines, which include a preferred 10-storey cap for the site.
“It’s a landmark site and we will respect that, but the number one goal is to create jobs,” he said.
“In the next 12 to 15 weeks we will have a full master plan showing what we want to do.”
Mr Cozzo, 82, first put the property on the market in 2014, saying it was time to slow down.
But despite the sale he has no plan to shut up shop in the near future.
Raine & Horne agent Sal Scavo, who handled the sale of the site, said the contract included a three-year settlement.
“My understanding is Mr Cozzo will stay the full term of settlement.”
Mr Scavo said the sale price was between $6.9 million and $7.6 million.
