Phillip Island Project Tops Up Samuel’s Pipeline

Melbourne-based developer Samuel Property has lodged plans for a $70-million apartment project in Cowes, the main town on Phillip Island, two hours’ drive south of Melbourne.

Samuel Property has put forward plans for a stepped five-storey, boutique apartment project that offers 91 apartments in a mix of one, two, three and four-bedroom configurations. 

Phillip Island, which attracts a summer population of about 35,000 and is visited by over 2.5 million people annually, is one of a number of Victorian coastal locations that have attracted attention from upmarket residential and hotel developers in recent years.

The boutique residential developer, headed up by Illan Samuel, bought the 4000sq m oceanfront site between 6 and 12 Warley Avenue, just off Cowes main esplanade and adjacent to Thompson Avenue—the town’s main retail strip, in an off-market transaction last month.

Samuel told The Urban Developer the proposed scheme was the result of a high-quality design team, again collaborating with Bruce Henderson Architects after the successful delivery of Turner Residences, a 34 apartment project in Glen Iris that was completed in early 2018.

“We have really tried to have a diverse mix of apartment types and sizes so that we can really appeal to more people and provide a high-quality yet accessible product to as wide a range of buyers as we can,” Samuel said.

“We know the average median price in Phillip Island has surpassed $1 million and is only going in one direction.

“We wanted to create something that was high-end, while being obtainable and achieving excellence in its sustainability initiatives.”

▲ Samuel purchased through O'Brien Real Estate, a local real estate agency in Cowes. Image: Nearmap

Samuel, established more than a decade ago in Melbourne, specialises in the high-end multi-residential sector and more recently has also broken into the boutique commercial sector.

The group has delivered 15 projects in that time, mainly in Melbourne’s inner suburbs, with its project Willow in Brighton on track to be completed in three months.

Samuel is also readying plans for a 5000sq m office project in Hawthorn East, dubbed Cato Street, and is in the final stages of negotiation for 2023 first quarter start with an undisclosed builder for Louise—a 100-apartment project on the north-west corner of Louise Street and Queens Lane in central Melbourne.

Its Phillip Island development, if realised, will be the first of its kind in Cowes for more than a decade.

Also on the island, developer Moda is about to lodge plans for a project for the historic Isle of Wight site, home to a century-old pub that burnt down in 2010.

Samuel said its plans for Warley Avenue had been considered in close collaboration with Bass Coast Shire Council, providing over 100 carparking spaces as well 20 visitors spaces, 120 bicycle spaces and motorbike spaces to ensure the project would have minimal, if any, impact on locals and on-street parking.

“The site is suitably zoned for development and the council understands the opportunity this project can play in elevating what is already a beautiful place to live,” he said.

▲ The development will feature two distinct buildings connected by a common piazza. Image: Bruce Henderson Architects

“Cowes is not a small coastal town—it has all the major shopping centres, supermarkets and all the amenities you would expect from a waterfront lifestyle destination—but it is evident there is a lack of suitable accommodation supply, particularly apartments. 

“It has given us a lot of confidence to actively pursue this opportunity and then progress it through the planning strategies and look to launch the project in a reasonable time frame.”

The bayside development will be sustainably focused, built using sustainable materials and once realised will include solar panels on the roof, rain gardens and electric car chargers.

Average prices within the development will hover around $750,000, with one bedroom apartments expected to start around the $375,000 mark.

“Victoria’s regional markets are no longer just being powered along by the pandemic,” Samuel said.

“The fundamentals of having property outside of Melbourne and outside the metro area is only strengthening and the infrastructure, especially in a location like Phillip Island, is already there. 

“It's for that reason that this type of development will be attracting a younger demographic, wanting that lifestyle and being able to enjoy it by the ability to work-from-home—particularly while dollars can still, at this moment, go a little bit further in tree-change and sea-change locations.”