Far East Consortium Tops Out $2.6bn Four-Tower Development

The final stage of Far East Consortium’s $2.6-billion West Side Place project in the Melbourne CBD has topped out.

Multiplex on Wednesday said it had reached the major construction milestone, completing the development’s final two 70-level towers, with a combined total of 1500 apartments, a diverse retail precinct and a network of gardens and leisure spaces.

The Cottee-Parker-designed development, spanning an entire city block at 651-669 Lonsdale Street and 250 Spencer Street on the former site of The Age newspaper, has been delivered over two stages and overseen by two tier-one builders.

The high-rise precinct, which commenced construction in late 2017, is one of the largest residential developments in Victoria, boasting 2900 apartments over four high-rise towers.

Far East Consortium bought the 1.2ha site from developer ISPT in 2012 for $75 million. 

The complex was initially proposed in 2013 and approved in mid-2014 by the then-planning minister Matthew Guy.

The project’s first stage, which was constructed by Probuild, included the delivery of 1400 apartments across two towers. 

It included the tallest hotel in the southern hemisphere, Melbourne’s first Ritz-Carlton hotel, within the 270m tower, comprising 260 guest rooms, a 500-seat ballroom and a check-in desk that boasts panoramic sky views from level 80. 

▲ Multiplex said the project had been significant employment generator, with more than 800 workers on site at peak staffing to achieve the topping out of stage two. Image: Supplied

The second stage included the construction of two 235m towers, one of which boasts the 300-key, 4-star Dorsett Hotel.

Residents within the project’s second stage will have access to a range of exclusive facilities including private dining rooms, a luxury lounge, meeting rooms, a wine cellar, garden terrace, rooftop cinema, lap pool and gymnasium.
 
Multiplex has also overseen the delivery of a new laneway connecting Lonsdale and Little Lonsdale streets, creating space for 3000sq m of new restaurants and boutiques as well as 475sq m of dedicated parkland and garden spaces.

Multiplex regional managing director Graham Cottam said that 80,000 cubic metres of concrete had been used across the construction phase of the development’s second stage. He said completion was on track for April 2023.

“We are delighted to have reached this milestone which is a critical step towards the completion of the CBD’s largest residential precinct,” Cottam said.

The development has not been without its problems.

In August 2021, an act of vandalism caused substantial damage to the tallest of the four towers after hydrants were deliberately released on multiple floors of the 80-storey building, resulting in water gushing down the fire escape stairs and then seeping in to hallways.

Probuild, which had been overseeing the project’s first stage, entered into administration in February after its Johannesburg-listed majority owner Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon decided to pull financial assistance to the construction firm.

The construction firm won the stage one contract for the development in October, 2017.

At the time Probuild was one of Australia’s largest construction companies, well advanced on a national pipeline of projects worth $5 billion and turning over $2 billion annually.

Soon after the builder was placed into administration, construction recommenced on the near-complete first stage of West Side Place after Far East Corporation took back the project.