Icon Wins Approval for Office Project in Cremorne ‘Tech Hub’

Icon Developments will be able to proceed with plans for a new commercial office project in Cremorne, having received development approval from the Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal.

The thumbs up from VCAT came on 17 April, with the tribunal reinstating the eighth level which had been reduced from the building’s form by the City of Yarra in planning.

The office building at 600 Church Street comprises 5,264sq m of office space and 535sq m of retail over eight-storeys, three levels of basement car parking with 71 car spaces, 100 bicycle parks and a landscaped rooftop terrace.

The building was designed by architecture firm Woods Marsh.

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Icon acquired the site – home to the former Nuttelex building on the corner of Church and Balmain Streets – for $6.6 million in August 2016.

Icon Developments senior development manager Brinn Tavener said the building will eventually be perfect for businesses looking to relocate into the fast-growing design and technology precinct, which has become one of Melbourne’s hottest commercial markets.

“City fringe locations like Cremorne continue to attract significant interest from occupiers who would’ve previously only looked at CBD office space, making it one of the strongest performing office markets in Victoria” Tavener said.

Cremorne has been awash with new projects and as developers plan new commercial structures to replace old industrial ones. Recent development in the area includes Alfasi Property’s 11-storey mixed-use office building at 510 Church Street, Seek’s new $163 million headquarters at 60 Cremorne Street and Caydon’s $1 billion Malt District redevelopment of the Nylex silos site.

Demolition work is already under way, with construction of the new office building on track to start in June 2018, and completion anticipated by the end of 2019.