This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
TIME & Place will kick off construction on a Southbank apartment and hotel tower that more than doubled in value to $410 million after the developer expanded the site’s footprint with the purchase of additional land from Crown.
Its amended permit for the Queensbridge Building project was unanimously supported by the Future Melbourne Committee and allows for a change from the original permit of 250 apartments to up to 367 apartments and a 200-room hotel.
Positioned behind Crown Casino, it will be built on a 1,370 sqm parcel after Time & Place picked up an adjoining 430 sqm landholding. It resulted in an uplift in the project’s GRV from $200 million.
Development partner Hickory has been appointed to undertake the build.
“We are passionate about the evolution of the Queensbridge precinct of Southbank and what the future holds for this thriving area. Acquiring the site at 15-23 Kings Way allows for a significant expansion in amenity and reinforces our development ethos to cultivate community-centric designs,” Time & Place director, Tim Price said.
Amenity will include a wellness retreat comprising of bookable outdoor cabanas, open and private pool, sauna and steam room, gym, yoga studio, boxing ring and private treatment rooms, while co-working spaces, café, providore, private dining room, and a dog spa will also be offered.
Time & Place has already recorded $100 million in apartment pre-sales, across a range of product types and price points from $518,000 to upwards of $2 million.
“Our presales success speaks to buyer confidence in Southbank and in the wider Melbourne off-the-plan apartment market, with a mix of first-home buyers, right-sizers and investors securing the first release of apartments to date,” Price sale.
“With the flight to regional living through the pandemic, we are now seeing strong interest from out of towners looking for an inner-city crash pad – Queensbridge offers an attractive location to visit the CBD for work, or for a weekend to enjoy the surrounding dining and arts precinct.”
Time & Place has also worked with Elenberg Fraser and Flack Studio on the design.
“Hickory’s main motivation has always been to help create the places in which we live, work and play. Together with Time & Place we share a common goal to create a tower that pays homage to the city that we love,” Hickory managing director, Michael Argyrou said.
Elsewhere in Southbank, developer Beulah International last month achieved the highest ever price paid for a Melbourne apartment with the $35 million sale of a sub-penthouse in its STH BNK project, which will become the country’s tallest building.
At the end of last year, Gurner and Qualitas announced they would be converting a 41-level build-to-sell apartment tower in Southbank to a build-to-rent offering, while Samma Property Group and impact investment firm Brightlight recently announced are plotting a $1.7 billion pipeline of “designed-to-rent” apartment projects that will begin with a project at 65 Haig Street in Southbank.
