This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
LENDLEASE will partner with the City of Melbourne to develop a $1.7 billion build-to-rent and affordable housing, office and student accommodation project on 3.2 hectares of land next to Queen Victoria Market.
To be known as Gurrowa Place, the precinct will comprise 560 units delivered as build-to-rent apartments and affordable homes – being 15% the latter – a 28-level, 43,000 sqm office building, and a 1,100-bed student accommodation building.
The redevelopment is bordered by Franklin, Queen and Peel Streets and will also include a 1.8-hectare public park named Market Square, restoration of the existing heritage Franklin Street Stores into a new retail village, a new 220-space basement car park for visitors and traders underneath the southern site, along with a civic pavilion, known as the Queen’s Corner Building, that the partners envisage will become a cornerstone of the precinct.
Lendlease has worked with NH Architecture, Kerstin Thompson Architects, 3XN Australia and Searle x Waldron Architecture, in conjunction with Openwork and McGregor Coxall, to conceptualise the proposed development scheme for the site. It is also collaborating with the Wurundjeri Elders on the precinct’s design.
Lendlease is set to act as the developer and a construction partner for the project – its first confirmed build-to-rent offering in Melbourne – with Scape set to develop and deliver the student accommodation building.
“Delivering this project is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to be part of one of Melbourne’s most iconic and beloved landmarks that has been serving the people of Melbourne for the past 140 years,” said Lendlease’s managing director of development, Tom Mackellar.
Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Sally Capp said the project is a “strong sign of confidence in Melbourne as a destination for investment, workers, residents and visitors”.
“Melbourne is the fastest-growing capital city in the country – and this development is a vote of confidence in our future. Lendlease could invest anywhere in the world, but it’s choosing Melbourne.
“We know this investment will attract thousands of new residents, workers and visitors, all while boosting business for traders.”
The project is forecast to generate in excess of $14 million of direct social investment through various employment, training and social enterprise initiatives and is expected to contribute more than $1 billion in value to Melbourne’s economy.
Subject to planning approval, construction of the precinct is expected to begin from early 2024 and be complete in 2028, with a focus to deliver the car park, Market Square and the Queen’s Corner Building as part of the earlier stages of the project.
The all-electric commercial and residential buildings, powered by renewable electricity, will pursue carbon neutrality in operation, with the workplace targeting a 6 Star Green Star Buildings v1 Reb B rating, and the residential buildings targeting a 5 Star Green Star Buildings v1 Rev B rating.
The Queen Victoria Market precinct has seen plenty of development activity recently. Mirvac late last year opened its 490-apartment LIV Munro build-to-rent development, while Veriu opened its first Melbourne hotel, the 110-room Veriu Queen Victoria Market facility.
More build-to-rent for Melbourne
Build-to-rent is gaining momentum in Australia, with a flurry of recent activity following the federal government offering tax breaks on developments. Build-to-rent is viewed by some to be a potential alleviator of the nationwide rental crisis. Housing vacancy rates across Australia’s capital cities remain near record lows amid a chronic undersupply of properties, and the market is set to come under further demand pressures with accelerated rental increases as record migration levels continue into the next financial year.
Melbourne dominates Australia’s build-to-rent pipeline, accounting for around 63% of supply, according to JLL, with nearly all of those projects in city fringe and inner suburban locations.
Mirvac also has projects in Brunswick and on the edge of the CBD at 7 Spencer Street. Greystar has a $500 million development in South Yarra that will be the largest of its type in Australia, and another $500 million project in South Melbourne, while prolific developer Tim Gurner’s pipeline includes 550 apartments within a $1.75 billion project in Docklands that he bought into alongside the wealthy Liberman family last year
