ApartmentsClare BurnettWed 04 Nov 26
Wing Tai’s ‘Butterfly’ Tower to Replace Melbourne’s VACC Building
Singapore’s Wing Tai Holdings has been cleared to build its “butterfly” tower project on the site of a heritage-significate office block near Melbourne’s Albert Park.
The group partnered with Abacus Property Group to acquire the site at 464-466 St Kilda Road in 2018 for $95.38 million. Wing Tai bought out Abacus in 2022 for a reported $49.4 million.
It submitted plans for the holding—home to the headquarters of the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (VACC) designed by former Lord Mayor of Melbourne Bernard Evans and completed in the 1960s—earlier this year.
The property development group, which has interests in Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and Japan, plans to reuse a component of the building on the site, 4km south of the Melbourne CBD.
The project, with a development value of $270.14 million, will consist of a shoptop tower on the site near the Royal Botanic Gardens, Albert Park and 800m from the Anzac train station.
Initially, an 18-storey tower of 172 one, 63 two, 66 three and 24 four-bedroom apartments was planned.
But the planning assessment report from the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning added a condition to the permit that the developer cut 2.9m from its height, reducing the building to 17 storeys plus plant.
The assessment report said this downscale would also address objections from the Port Phillip City Council about the visual bulk and scale of the development.
The council recommended the refusal of the planning permit but provided recommendations for its approval, including the height cut.
Uner plans designed by Cox Architecture, the developers wil dismantle the original metal fabric of the VACC building, which be reinstated as the podium of the new tower. The building itself will be demolished.
The assessment report said that a heritage consultant had determined the “interpretive design”—rather than a conservation-based outcome—struck “an appropriate balance between heritage conservation and redevelopment outcomes”.
The project replaces a previously approved 16-storey office building that also included the reconstruction of the graded heritage building.
Wing Tai’s project will also incliude 371sq m of retail and parking for 254 cars.
A swimming pool is included on level two, and communal open space on level three.
The assessment report said the proposed “butterfly” form of the building and “sophisticated” material palette demonstrated a “high-quality architectural response”.
The Department of Transport and Planning issued a permit for Wing Tai’s project, which will join Dexus’s redevelopment of an ageing office building into a 27-storey apartment tower.
Nearby, Kokoda Property paid $100 million for a site on St Kilda Road earlier this year.
