Developer Eyes BtR Conversion for Decade-Old Tower Scheme
A little more than a decade after it was approved, plans for a 19-storey project at South Melbourne have been resurrected for conversion to build-to-rent.
The original plans for 13-21 Palmerston Crescent, 3.5km south of Melbourne CBD, detailed 196 build-to-sell apartments.
With retail as well as food and drink premises and a gym on the ground level, the plans were linked to a second application for neighbouring 28-32 Albert Road by the same developers.
In the intervening period the Albert Road site changed hands and is now being developed into First Light by Yoo Hotel, a 30-storey luxury residential and hotel project with 97 units.
The plans for Palmerston Crescent submitted to the City of Port Phillip were approved via the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in 2015.
The developer, Roundbay Pty Ltd, an entity with directors listed in ASIC documents as Katrine and Eduard Bakshi, alongside John and Monica Shalit, is seeking to amend that planning permit.
The developers want to rework the plans into build-to-rent apartments, change the land-use mix, and remove the ground-floor retail and commercial tenancies facing Palmerston Crescent.
The amended plans detail internal reconfigurations to suit the build-to-rent use.
But they retain the previously approved number of apartments at 196, with 80 one-bedroom and 116 two-bedroom apartments.
The application said the build-to-rent conversion was a result of the model being an “attractive proposition to younger singles and couples who value a smaller and easily maintained living space” with access to amenities and public transport.
The updated plans also include a 91sq m gym and a 586sq m wellness and coworking lounge facility for residents.
Fraser and Partners is designing the building, and provided the original designs (pictured top) that have been refined in the updated planning documents to “respond to the strategic intent of the area”.
In light of the data supplied by Roundbay, which reported that 79 per cent of studio apartment residents, 40 per cent of one-bedroom apartment owners and 24 per cent of two-bedroom unit owners were not using a car, the parking would be reduced with the removal of the lowest basement level.
This would bring parking spaces to 151 spots on the 1730sq m site.
The Palmerston Crescent address is currently used as a multi-storey parking lot. It is opposite the Johnson Street activity centre, and 500m from the Anzac train station, which opened late last year.
The site is within 1km of the University of Melbourne, Victoria University and Torrens University.
The application said it presented an “excellent architectural and urban design response to a large redevelopment site that will meaningfully contribute to the mixed commercial and residential area of South Melbourne”.
