How Freemasons Victoria is using property to overhaul its century-old image
A 127-year-old organisation, known for its secrecy, is expanding its property portfolio to bring the organisation into the 21st century – and they’re starting by putting windows in their buildings.
In its first ever annual report, Freemasons Victoria revealed it had pumped more than $2 million into improvements for 15 of its buildings in the 2016/17 financial year, including restorations of historic Masonic Centres, four of which are heritage-listed.
New property developments – including a 258-apartment project with Mirvac in East Melbourne – formed part of the men-only society’s major corporate restructure and rebranding that was aimed at tackling declining membership numbers, which has dropped to 9356 this year, from 20,000 in 1997.
Freemasons Victoria’s Bayside Masonic Centre will be up and running early next year. Photo: Supplied
Lots of windows in the Bayside Masonic Centre in Gardenvale, which will have a childcare centre, offices and showrooms for rent. Photo: Supplied
Freemasons Victoria’s grand superintendent of works, Peter Shellie, who looks after the property portfolio, said they wanted to shake off perceptions of the group as being a “secret society”, especially through the design of their buildings.
“People might remember our centres as being fairly bland-looking buildings with not many windows,” Mr Shellie said.
“We’re transforming that; we want to be vibrant and exciting – we put windows in them to make sure we can let the world in because Freemasons is not a secret society. It’s an organisation of good men, supporting each other, their community and their families, and we want to make sure that our buildings reflect that.”
The group’s new headquarters and its Masonic facilities will occupy three levels in the East Melbourne complex, while taking advantage of the commercial office space for rental income.
“We have sharpened our focus on facilities becoming more income-bearing, and successfully incorporated external tenants in redeveloped facilities, with the prospect of extending this model,” the report wrote.
Apart from tapping into the real estate they already own, Mr Shellie added that Freemasons Victoria is in a building boom for the first time in the past 25 years.
The 258-apartment project was developed with Mirvac on the former Dallas Brooks Hall site. Picture: Supplied.
Income from the Freemasons Victoria property portfolio, which includes 114 Masonic Centres across the state, will be channelled into supporting the organisation’s other activities.
“We can’t just keep relying on our membership base for funding the organisation; we need to broaden that, that way we can relieve (lodges) from those costs, and then they can improve their community engagement and giving programs,” Mr Shellie said.
While the primary purpose of the group’s properties is for the Masonic community’s use, several centres have also set aside space for commercial opportunities. The Box Hill Masonic Centre, for example, leases out offices and the new Bayside Masonic Centre in Gardenvale, which will open early 2018, will provide showrooms, a 216-place childcare centre and offices for rent.
“It’s a part of diversifying so actually creating (new facilities), instead of having a network of just meeting centres,” Mr Shellie said.
“We’re actually thinking of it as much more of a corporate property portfolio so it can deliver quality services and facilities for our members, but also so we can get a bit of a return on our property portfolio.
“The growth in these inner middle-ring areas has been fantastic with families so we think it’s a great way to not only (capitalise on) the commercial opportunity but also provide facilities that are much-needed in that area.”
