Student AccommodationLeon Della BoscaTue 16 Jun 26
Revised 161-Room PBSA Filed for Melbourne’s Hotly Contested Clayton
A shortage of purpose-built student accommodation near one of Australia’s largest universities is the backdrop for a revised planning application filed for an eight-storey building in Melboure’s south-east.
Revised plans were drawn up by Parallel Workshop Architects for ICD Property’s site at 1494–1496 North Road, Clayton, 18km from the CBD and 230m from the Monash University Clayton campus.
The 161-room proposal mirrors an earlier scheme approved by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in November 2021.
That permit remains valid after a 2024 time extension, with development required to commence by November 2026 and reach completion by 2028.
According to the latest application, the new submission has refined design and updated policy alignment rather than a fundamental change in scope.
The plans detail three typologies in a mix of studio, single-bedroom and accessible configurations. A basement car park would offer 19 car spaces along with 112 bicycle bays, exceeding statutory requirements.
Communal areas would total 316sq m of outdoor space and 201sq m of internal amenity, incorporating an indoor lounge, study rooms, laundry facilities, a rooftop terrace and outdoor barbecue areas.
Student accommodation operators RoomingKos and Circle Student are in support of the scheme.
The proposal targets a BESS score of 54 per cent, 83 per cent daylight compliance, 12.5kW of rooftop solar capacity, 40,000-litre rainwater storage and 23 new trees across the site.
Previously occupied by a church and now cleared, the site is in a Residential Growth Zone and the Clayton Major Activity Centre, where higher-density development is encouraged under the Monash National Employment and Innovation Cluster framework.
The North Road proposal is one of several student accommodation projects in the area, as Monash University’s Clayton campus has 42,477 students competing for roughly 3000 on-campus beds.
Monash appointed builder ADCO in February, 2026 to deliver a 252-bed, six-storey hybrid cross-laminated timber development on campus, designed by Jackson Clements Burrows and scheduled for completion in mid-2027.
Rockonus Group has also filed plans for a four-storey, 96-apartment project at 12-14 Marshall Avenue, 400m from the university, with Parallel Workshop Architects also managing the project’s design.
Parallel Workshop’s nearby 65-room Stockdale Housing project on Stockdale Avenue reached full occupancy within two months of completion, generating weekly rental rates of $550 to $600 against an initial feasibility estimate of $450 to $500.
