Storage King Plans Interim Use for Former Triple M Studio

Storage King wants to transform a vacant St Kilda commercial building into a five-storey self-storage facility, filing an amended proposal with the City of Port Phillip following a refusal in July.

BN Architecture has designed the proposal for the site at 180 St Kilda Road that would add two storeys to the three-storey structure, creating a facility with five storeys above two basement levels. The block would be 20.8m high at the rear of the site.

Six kilometres from the CBD near the lower end of St Kilda Road, the 1258sq m site was home to Fox FM and Triple M radio studios and the rooftop used for music concerts.

Southern Cross Austereo relocated the stations to South Melbourne in 2010. The building was refurbished by Zig Inge Group and leased to Victory Offices until 2025.

Victory Offices closed in June 2022, entering voluntary administration in November that year and the building was left vacant.

The 180 St Kilda Road Trust filed the original application in December 2024 proposing a conversion of the former radio studios.

The council refused that proposal in July, citing traffic and parking concerns. An amended application filed in early October addressed those issues.

The applicant provided swept path analysis— a computer simulation showing the path a vehicle takes when it turns or manoeuvres through a space. It proved that large trucks and service vehicles could pass each other safely in the rear laneway, resolving concerns about two-way traffic flow.

▲ The former Southern Cross Austereo building at 180 St Kilda Road.

Trucks will, however, be limited to 6.4m in length, with the laneway having 5.9m height clearance under a loading management plan.

The original application included tandem parking arrangements and a garage door positioned in a way that would have blocked laneway traffic. Both issues have been resolved in the amended plans.

According to the planning documents, the storage facility would be an “interim use” until a higher-value development proceeds on the Commercial 1 Zone site.

St Kilda Road office vacancy rates reached 27.5 per cent in early 2024, an all-time high for the precinct.

Knight Frank researchers found that 36 office buildings in the area have converted to residential since 1995; 18 since 2010.

One such conversion in the works is Dexus’s plans for a $320-million, 402-apartment tower to replace its office building at 636 St Kilda Road, while Melbournia Group amended plans at 190 St Kilda Road in April to swap an approved office project for 48 serviced apartments.