This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE Victorian government has fast-tracked approval of the $780 million expansion of Salta Properties’ and Vicinity Centres’ Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre in inner Melbourne, which will deliver 827 new homes, including affordable housing.
The expansion of the Abbotsford centre will include six buildings and feature a mix of one to three-bedroom apartments, “accommodating more people in established suburbs – close to the CBD, jobs, services and public transport”, Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny touted.
The project will also extend and refurbish a section of the existing shopping centre into a new market hall including retail and commercial floor space, as well as a new underground car park.
Of the 827 homes, 10% will be affordable housing.
Salta and Sam Tarascio’s Vicinity lodged $900 million plans early last year for Victoria Gardens that included 1,679 new homes and more than 12,000 sqm of new retail and commercial space across two separate precincts at the Abbotsford site. Plans for expansion have been in the works for years; Vicinity and Salta brought two plots of land adjoining the shopping centre in 2019, creating a strategic 1.3-hectare development site.
The new homes support the Victorian government’s Housing Statement, which seeks to deliver 800,000 new homes across Victoria the state over the next decade “in areas where people want to live”.
“We’ve fast-tracked the Victoria Gardens expansion to ensure more than 800 homes can be built for Victorians right in the heart of Richmond in an area close to jobs, transport, services and shops,” said Premier Jacinta Allan.
Plans were submitted as part of the state government’s Development Facilitation Program, which streamlines the planning process for priority projects. It was established in 2020 to stimulate economy during the pandemic.
The Development Facilitation Program essentially makes the Minister for Planning the decision-maker for significant residential developments that include affordable housing, bypassing local council. The expanded program aims to streamline the planning process for medium to high-density residential developments that meet the set criteria, including constructions costs worth at least $50 million in Melbourne or $15 million in regional Victoria, and delivering at least 10% affordable housing.
Seven residential projects delivering 1,113 homes have been fast-tracked under the program.
A further 10 applications are currently under assessment, comprising more than 1,000 homes, and 101 projects are in the pre-application phase, comprising more than 33,000 homes.
Victoria led growth in home approvals in March, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, with a 3.2% increase, followed by Western Australia at 1.5%.
“We’re making good decisions faster, getting projects off the ground that will improve housing choice and get more homes built over the next decade,” Kilkenny said.
The Victoria Gardens redevelopment will create approximately 390 jobs during construction and will support more than 1,000 ongoing jobs.
Vicinity has been undertaking major expansions of its shopping centres in recent years, turning them into mixed-use precincts, as major retail landlords seek to unlock value from their malls.
Alongside co-owners the Gandel family, Vicinity has added a new hotel and new offices at the Chadstone megamall in Melbourne’s south-east, while Vicinity also sold the air rights above The Glen shopping centre to Golden Age Group, paving the way for the developer to build a $450 million, three-tower apartment complex home to 1,500 residents.
