Heritage Abbotsford Bank Conversion Wins Approval

A Victorian tribunal has overturned the Yarra City Council’s rejection of plans to adaptively redevelop a heritage-listed former bank at Abbotsford as a rooming house.

Site owner Hawthorn Realty Pty Ltd filed the plans with the council in 2024 proposing the building at 231 Victoria Street be transformed into a 17-room boarding house.

The site had sold in 2019 with vacant possession for $3.2 million, according to Cotality’s RP Data.

The three-level building in the Italianate palazzo style was constructed in 1884 and served as the first home for the Melbourne Savings Bank. 

The 610sq m site at the north-east corner of Victoria and Hoddle streets is 2km east of the Melbourne CBD in a commercial activity centre with a mix of offices, food and drink outlets, and retail businesses. 

Hawthorn Realty, which according to ASIC documents is a vehicle of Malaysian national Mee Eian Sim and Singaporeans Fook Choy David Ng and Peng Hooi Keh, proposed shared bathrooms and communal kitchen facilities over two levels, but the Yarra City Council refused to grant a permit for the change of use. 

The council said the plan was inappropriate in the context of the wider area and was incompatible with nearby uses, did not provide adequate private open space, and would have adverse effects on the amenity of the area. 

Individual objections to the proposal said that its location near a state-run medically supervised injecting room meant it would “attract people who may be vulnerable to substance abuse and contribute to a continued decline in social behaviours and conditions” at North Richmond. 

The council agreed and said it was dealing with “significant social issues” in the Victoria Street activity centre.

▲ The former bank at 231 Victoria Street at Abbotsford will be transformed into a rooming house. Image at top source: Cotality

The council suggested that it should provide accommodation only for students.

But the developer said the objections were “prejudicial”. The proposal supported the provision of affordable housing and made efficient use of a building that had been vandalised, it said. 

The building is in a commercial zone that permits residential uses complementary to the scale of the commercial centre.

At a hearing brought by the developer, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal said that the status of potential residents was irrelevant and could not possibly be controlled by the planning system. 

With no external modifications, only internal changes, the plans did not adversely impact the heritage item, it said. 

The tribunal said that there was no requirement in the planning scheme for a rooming house to provide open space for a use-only proposal, in comparison to a new residential building—another criticism of the proposal.

VCAT ruled that with some amendments to room sizes, which would reduce the number of rooms to 13, and the development of an operational management plan, the proposal was an “acceptable outcome”.

It set aside the Yarra City Council’s refusal and conditionally approved the development.