OtherAna NarvaezTue 04 Sep 18

CostaFox Plans ‘High-End’ Strata Office Tower in Cremorne

The former industrial Melbourne suburb of Cremorne is set to welcome its latest development, with boutique operator CostaFox lodging an application for a $60 million eight-storey strata office tower on Gordon Street.

The building, dubbed the Gordon Street Offices, will be the latest addition to a string of new commercial development in Cremorne, albeit the first strata-titled commercial offering in the area for some time.

The building will be pitched toward affluent high-end and owner-occupier buyers, CostaFox managing director Michael Fox told The Urban Developer.

“[The project] is a great development opportunity in an up and coming precinct,” Fox said.

Strata sales are on the rise as surging rents and tenant demand pushes owner-occupiers and investors to consider strata title in Melbourne’s increasingly tight office leasing market.

According to property advisory firm Charter Keck Cramer, strata offices comprise less than six per cent of Melbourne’s total office floor space with purchaser demand in the sector strengthening in recent years.

CostaFox snapped up the 1-11 Gordon Street site for $12 million (top left). The Fieldwork-designed project will retain the original industrial heritage facade as part of the development. Image: Fieldwork

Designed by Fieldwork Architects, the Gordon Street development delivers nearly 6,000sq m of NLA, 52 basement car parks and 40 bicycle spaces.

CostaFox will restore the original heritage building, erecting a glass “curtain wall” eight-storey tower above the retained industrial brick façade.

Flexible office spaces will allow a mixture of small, medium and large strata tenant configurations.

The project will aim for a Green Star 5 Star rating and incorporate solar panels, sustainable features, urban art and activate “all street frontages”. A retail component will be integrated on the ground floor.

“The Gordon Street offices will provide owner-occupiers and investors with the opportunity to acquire a subdivided floor or entire floor of a high-end, sustainable building in Melbourne’s hottest office precinct,” Fox said.

The Costa-family backed CostaFox is run by former Little Group executive Michael Fox with development headed up by Geno Hubay.

The developer acquired the 1180sq m site for $12 million in February from Icon Development’s Ashley Murdoch with an eight-month settlement period. Murdoch amassed the site from two lots as a private investment.

The Gordon Street Offices have an estimated construction cost of about $25 million.