The $203m Timber Office Tower Taking on Melbourne’s Toughest Test

On a tight, one-way street 3km from the Melbourne CBD, wedged behind a corner hotel and along the rail line, a $203-million office tower of up to 15 storeys is waiting on a signature.

If it lands the way its backers expect, the building at 57-71 Stephenson Street at Cremorne will be the tallest commercial structure in Australia built almost entirely from mass timber, at a scale Victoria’s fire authorities have historically been reluctant to approve.

Vettex director Chris Coyle, who is managing the project for the applicant, Endor Development, says it was never a closed door so much as one that had never been properly tested.