Grollo’s HOME Wins Approval for South Yarra BtR Project

It has taken several tribunal hearings but Daniel Grollo’s HOME platform now has planning permission for a build-to-rent project at South Yarra, Melbourne.

The site at 671 Chapel Street and 1 Forrest Hill, South Yarra, has gone through several rounds of planning and has been subject to many changes and amendments over the years.

Grollo bought the 2069sq m site in 2022 for $37.5 million, according to CoreLogic property data, which shows the site changed hands in December, 2021 and settled in March the next year.

The previous owner, fashion brand owner Harry Goles, had previously submitted plans for a 32-storey mixed-use tower.

Those plans were subsequently amended to remove 10 storeys and add a maternal and child health centre.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) intervened in 2020 to refuse the permit granted by the City of Stonnington Council in 2019, ruling it would cause too much pressure on Melbourne High School next to the site.

Grollo’s GFM Investments Group bought the site and filed plans for a 22-storey tower with 160 apartments and three podium levels, communal space, five basement levels, office space and retail space and amenities such as a pool, gym and lounge spaces.

Those plans showed 30 one, 91 two, and 37 three-bedroom units, and two penthouses, with a maximum of nine apartments a floor.

Although the permit was granted in December 2022, a case was filed with VCAT appealing against the council decision.

▲ A view of the proposed project from Chapel Street level at South Yarra.

Several hearings were held during 2023 and changes were made to the permit conditions.

GFM Investments Group applied to be allowed to file amended plans.

These plans by Bates Smart Architects cut the number of apartments from 160 to 130 with 39 one, 43 two, 48 three-bedroom apartments, and four basement levels instead of five.

There will also be a decrease in carparking spaces from 197 to 166, 14 two-tier car stackers introduced to add 28 carparking spaces, and an increase in bicycle storage spaces from 54 to 127.

ASIC records show that GFM Investments Group director is Daniel Grollo with an address that matches the HOME platform’s place of business at Richmond.

Data from BCI Central indicates that GFM Investments Group received planning permission from the Stonnington Council and from VCAT and that VCAT judge Geoffrey Code ruled the Stonnington Council had made an error in not including land at 1 Forrest Hill as part of the application when granting its planning permission.

He also ruled that it was an appropriate use of the land at 1 Forrest Hill and that there was no permission needed to change the use for that part of the site.

HOME has two built-to-rent sites currently operational in Richmond and Southbank in Melbourne with another site at Docklands set to be completed in 2024.

It also currently has plans for two projects at Parramatta and St Leonards in New South Wales.