Aesop Founder Plots Car-Free Brunswick Townhouse Scheme

A car-free townhouse development has been lodged for a Brunswick site with a colourful ownership history that includes a skincare empire founder. Brunswick Market Developments has filed plans for the 43-townhouse development of two to three storeys on the Breese Street portion of the historic Brunswick Market site 6km north of the Melbourne CBD. The development application covers 50-52 Breese Street, the rear portion of the broader site. The planning report references the 655-661 Sydney Road address but excludes that frontage from the proposed development. Australian luxury cosmetics brand Aesop founder Dennis Paphitis and Canberra-based Molonglo Group acquired the combined site for $17 million in 2020, according to industry sources. The site was then listed for sale in 2022 and again in 2024 but was retained by the owners, who were given the nod to subdivide the property in March this year. The 804sq m portion at 655-661 Sydney Road, which fronts Sydney Road and Florence Street, was marketed by CBRE as a separate parcel with expressions of interest that closed on November 13. The property currently operates as an office furniture showroom. CBRE director David Minty told The Urban Developer that final offers for the Sydney Road portion were now with the owners. The approved subdivision separates the Sydney Road frontage from the Breese Street portion, which has been demolished and prepared for the townhouse development. Brunswick Market Developments directors Dennis Paphitis and Nicholas Christos Kalogeropoulos, who is also the director of the Global Hospitality Group, lodged the townhouse application on November 28 through the Victorian Government’s Development Facilitation Program. The project qualifies as a Category 3 priority development due to its affordable housing provision and design quality. Delete The plans were prepared by Canberra-based architects Dezignteam for Molonglo. They show 38 three-storey townhouses and five two-storey affordable housing units, arranged in eight clusters of up to five homes each. According to the planning report, communal facilities would include a village square, community tool store, recycling hub and a mobility hub with secure bicycle storage. The development would not include private car parking and would instead provide one shared car space with an electric vehicle charging station for a car share vehicle. Bicycle parking would total 78 spaces across the site, integrated within homes, and a mobility hub. The site is within walking distance to Anstey Railway Station and close to tram Route 19 and multiple bus routes, which supports the car-free residential model, the planning report said. The project would include solar energy systems on all rooftops, passive design principles for natural ventilation and extensive landscaping with 21 per cent tree canopy cover. ▲ Landscaped pathways would link townhouses with communal facilities including a village square and bicycle parking hub. The site is within the Brunswick Activity Centre, identified as a Major Activity Centre under the Merri-bek Planning Scheme. The Environmental Audit Overlay requires assessment and remediation of potential land contamination before development proceeds. Nearby, at 146 Union Street, Brunswick, Melbourne developer Neometro announced a 24 three-bedroom townhouse proposal in October. Neometro director Lochlan Sinclair said medium-density housing offered crucial middle ground allowing people to remain in established inner suburbs without being priced out or facing long commutes. Sustainability-led developer Hip V Hype is also active in Brunswick, with its 61-apartment ParkLife 2 development at 427 Albert Street . Hip V Hype founder Liam Wallis said the seven-storey project, designed by Austin Maynard Architects, is targeting project completion by late 2027.

Aesop Founder Plots Car-Free Brunswick Townhouse Scheme

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