This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
MELBOURNE-based Dorman Capital is teaming up with Hacer Group co-founder Rob Pitts’ Wattletree to launch a $190 million project to develop one of South Yarra’s last riverside site.
Located at 55 Claremont Street, South Yarra House will comprise 60-apartments across a 20-storey tower on the 1,000sqm, which sits around 4km south-east of the Melbourne CBD.
The development site was established by amalgamating a lot acquired by Dorman Capital in 2018 and the two adjoining lots acquired by Wattletree in May 2021.
“We were initially pursuing a commercial office project which had challenges due to the site’s land proportions, prior to Wattletree acquiring the adjoining sites and approaching us with a joint venture proposal which alleviated those concerns,” said Nicholas Dorman, managing director at Dorman Capital.
“We quickly built a strong relationship with Rob and Nick and were impressed with their partnership focused style and collaborative, no fuss approach to decision making.”
Sitting on the Yarra River, the development will enjoy uninterrupted views of central Melbourne, the Royal Botanical Garden and of course the river.
The development will feature designs by SJB Architecture and interiors by Hecker Guthrie to deliver a landmark to the inner-south-east inspired by brutalist art-deco New York architecture.
South Yarra House will be developed by Wattletree, a development company founded in 2021 by Rob Pitts and Nick Moylan. Marking the developers fifth project and the first joint venture between Wattletree and Dorman Capital.
Pitts left Hacer Group in 2021, selling his shares in order to focus on Wattletree.
“Nick Moylan and I started Wattletree Development because we are both very passionate about property and love the development process. Our focus for Wattletree is to develop a reputation for creating and delivering a pipeline of high quality, market leading and innovative property development projects,” said Pitts.
Wattletree’s initial four developments include three commercial projects in Melbourne’s Hawthorn and a 33-apartment residential project in Clifton Hill.
South Yarra House received planning approval in July this year and sales are expected to launch in October.
