This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
JAMES Packer’s $1.7 billion gamble to develop Australia’s tallest building has paid off, with the Victorian government giving the green light to the 90-storey One Queensbridge tower.
The approval flies in the face of planning controls introduced by the government in April last year, which restricted the height of a development which borders the site to a maximum of 18 storeys. The control means the tallest residential apartment tower, Australia 108, would not have been approved.
Despite implementing height controls, Planning Minister Richard Wynne has exempted the Queensbridge development and gave conditional planning approval to Crown and its joint venture partner Schiavello Group for what will be Australia’s tallest tower at 323 metres.
The building’s height will pip Sunland’s Gold Coast Q1 tower, currently Australia’s tallest building at 322.5 metres.
It will reach 25 metres beyond the Eureka Tower, now standing as Melbourne’s tallest building at 297 metres, whilst the under-construction Australia 108 tower will now only hold the city’s title for a brief time.
The 90-storey development was designed by London-based architects Wilkinson Eyre and will comprise a 388-room six-star Crown hotel, 708 apartments and a public restaurant and lounge at the top of the tower.
It will see Crown’s Southbank presence expand to eight hectares.
A $100 million public benefits package as part of the deal will see Crown and Schiavello deliver a $25 million upgrade to Queensbridge Sqare, including landscaping and two cafés, and a further $15 million for the Sandridge Rail Bridge, as well as further landscaping and public realm improvements in the vicinity.
The state government expects the economic benefits from the project to be around $2.1 billion for the state.
Premier Daniel Andrews said four thousand jobs would be created by the project, expected to be made up of 3,000 direct and indirect jobs during construction and another 1,000 ongoing operational jobs.
“This is a bold transformation of Melbourne’s skyline that will build on our state’s reputation as the nation’s leader for tourism,” Premier Andrews said.
Construction on One Queensbridge is hoped to begin in 2018, and take up to six years.
Crown Resorts executive vice president of strategy and development, Todd Nisbet, thanked the design team at Wilkinson Eyre for developing “a truly iconic design” for the project, the result of an international design competition in 2015.
“Melbourne is one of the world’s most liveable cities. We truly believe One Queensbridge will add to the liveability and vibrancy of city life in Southbank and become a signature landmark in the Melbourne skyline with international appeal,” he said.
Crown has been no stranger to big news over the past year. It was shaken by the arrest of 18 employees in China last year for the promotion of gambling, and in December announced a dramatic strip-back of its international strategy.
The new direction would see Crown sell off $1.6 billion of its share in Macau operator Melco Crown to its joint venture partner Melco International Development and the rest to the market, and abandon its Las Vegas casino project Alon, quashing plans for a separately-listed vehicle of international assets it had announced just six months prior.
Australian Property Journal
