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Builder-developer Built and investment manager Investa are putting together a small club of three or four investors who will take part in an ambitious $400-million plan to turn ageing city buildings into environmentally sustainable office space.The partners are finalising a list of investors prepared to commit to a brown-to-green strategy of “buying, fixing and holding” older office buildings, initially in Sydney and Melbourne.They point to a report by JLL, the global real estate services company, which says about 80 per cent of “mature city” office buildings will still be in use in 2050. But to meet net zero commitments, existing commercial stock will need to be retrofitted at a rate of between 3 and 3.5 per cent a year.Investa chief executive Peter Menegazzo said there had been a lot of interest from its existing investor base as well as new customers in regenerating existing space rather than demolishing buildings and constructing new ones.There had been “really good interest” from Australian pension funds, as well as foreign investors.“I think where we’ll end up it’ll be a very small club, maybe three or four, high-quality institutional investors,” Menegazzo told The Urban Developer.He said they were actively screening potential sites.While he would not be drawn on where those opportunities are, Menegazzo said the venture would focus on the gateway cities of Sydney and Melbourne, both the central business districts as well as the fringe markets.“But we absolutely see an opportunity here that could potentially extend to markets all around the country,” he said.&nbsp;&nbsp;“This is a country wide issue, but we want to make sure we’re focusing on the markets we know best. And it’s a really good starting point.”The global pandemic has changed work patterns—particularly in Australia’s major city centres—which has forced landlords and employers to get creative when encouraging staff back to the office.<div id="6KAY3YZi3kgVYZD5PmlJV5"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/5Qv0PrA5n7sjoLtTWEZZa3/8f64e7ffaf7b28b8f8a326782006b383/Built_Investa_Mid__Long_.jpg" alt=" Investa 23-storey tower on Barrack Place in Clarence Street, Sydney. " data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/5Qv0PrA5n7sjoLtTWEZZa3/8f64e7ffaf7b28b8f8a326782006b383/Built_Investa_Mid__Long_.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Built and Investa worked together on Barrack Place in Clarence Street, Sydney. For its part, Built redeveloped the old substation No. 164 on Clarence Street (main picture).</div><div> </div></div><a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/office-vacancy-pca-report-h2-2022" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/office-vacancy-pca-report-h2-2022">Tenants want quality. </a>And they are increasingly demanding green credentials.In bringing new life to the older assets, the venture is aiming for reductions in embodied carbon of 40 per cent and will target a minimum five-Star NABERS weighted average portfolio rating. The buildings will be fully electric and chase Green Star and WELL building status, eventually achieving net-zero in scope 1 and scope 2 emissions.Built and Investa have worked together on a handful of other occasions.The builder-developer was behind the construction of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/investa-completes-barrack-place-in-sydney-cbd" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/investa-completes-barrack-place-in-sydney-cbd">Investa’s 23-storey high-tech office tower&nbsp;</a>Barrack Place in Clarence Street, Sydney. And for its part, Built has a history of repurposing secondary assets, redeveloping the Sub-Station No 164 on Clarence Street, a <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/tud-awards-winner-development-of-the-year-urban-regeneration" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/tud-awards-winner-development-of-the-year-urban-regeneration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">multi-award</a>-winning <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/tud-awards-winner-development-of-the-year-commercial" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/tud-awards-winner-development-of-the-year-commercial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Urban Developer Awards for Excellence project</a>.Built chief executive and managing director Brett Mason said Sub-Station No 164 had proven the success of, and increased demand for, the brown-to-green approach to boutique developments.“Not only did the retention of the original buildings in construction reduce embodied carbon by 23 per cent in comparison to a conventional build, Built also secured an international fund partner and fully leased the building during Covid and challenging economic conditions, showing the market demand for these types of assets,” Mason said.Menegazzo believes it’s the first time the strategy has been tried in the Australian market.“We think this is going to be a really great opportunity to do a lot of transactions in this space, because there's a lot of investor interest and these are the sorts of assets that tenants want to be in.”

Builder-developer Built and investment manager Investa are putting together a small club of three or four investors who will take part in an ambitious $400 million plan to turn aging city buildings into environmentally-sustainable office space.

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A developer has been approved for its first office project for a tower with two more storeys than preferred by the City of Boroondara council. <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/samuel-property-cato-street-office-development-melbourne" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/samuel-property-cato-street-office-development-melbourne" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Samuel Property filed plans for a six-storey office project</a>, its first foray into that sector, in Hawthorn East in August.The preferred height limit in the planning overlay for the area is four storeys but the council was satisfied with the design options put forward by Samuel Property. “They were comfortable to support us for additional height in light of the environmental initiatives we were proposing,” Samuel Property director Illan Samuel said.&nbsp;“So we worked with them [and] we didn’t go to VCAT.“It was a bit of a slower process but the outcome is better than going to VCAT and fighting against each other.” The 1278sq m site at Cato Street sits in the Tooronga Commercial Precinct. Plans designed by Cera Stribley Architects for the project comprise a six-storey office tower with several terraces including one on the rooftopIt will also have two basement levels for 60 carparking spaces and end-of-trip facilities. The ground floor will use landscaping and design to engage with pedestrians.“We wanted to have a high-quality offering for those suburban locations,” Samuel said. “We are giving people a reason to come into the office and having offices close to where a lot of people live so that you can incentivise staff to actually come to the office. “It allows us to give an offering at a lower price point than in Cremorne, Abbotsford, and certainly the Melbourne CBD or South Yarra.“So businesses that need to be in those locations and still want a new office building should be able to take advantage of the fact that our cost base on the land is lower.” <div id="JMyvPlrNQMHMOURiS33QB"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2XvF1T6VhukyfX8ONtTJz4/0882941d15d759039349b71c30de3c9e/1.jpg" alt="An artist’s impression of Samuel Group’s Louise project." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2XvF1T6VhukyfX8ONtTJz4/0882941d15d759039349b71c30de3c9e/1.jpg"></picture><div>▲ A render of Louise, one of the high-end residential projects by Samuel Property. </div></div>The site is bordered by Toorak, Tooronga and Auburn roads, with a two-storey office building currently on the site. Samuel Property bought the site for $4.2 million in an off-market deal in mid-2021. Stonebridge Property sold the site to Samuel Property at a 4.5 per cent yield.&nbsp;Prior to the sale in 2021, CoreLogic’s property records list a single deed transfer in January 2006.&nbsp;Once completed the project will have an end value of $60 million and 5000sq m of flexible A-grade office space.

 In what is their first foray into the office market, Samuel Property has won approval for a six-storey project from the council, two storeys over a preferred height limit…


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“I’m often asked what keeps me up at night, and it’s the contractor risk and what’s going on with building prices. The reality is there are a lot of feasibilities that aren’t stacking up.”Speaking at The Urban Developer and MaxCap roundtable in Sydney recently, MaxCap chief investment officer Bill McWilliams succinctly expresses the concern etched across the furrowed brows of every developer sitting down for lunch.&nbsp;Nothing is off the table as some of New South Wales’ biggest developers across industrial, greenfield, office and residential talk shop and look for the blue skies on the horizon.&nbsp;<div id="31ZJ7R5ohDWUKDiej2HwS0"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/21iiu7ExQXLkwYo0jUaN8B/2e5c2622d8c040bd3875cab50cabe9dd/Bill_MID1.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/21iiu7ExQXLkwYo0jUaN8B/2e5c2622d8c040bd3875cab50cabe9dd/Bill_MID1.jpg"></picture><div>▲ MaxCap chief investment officer says construction contractor risk is the main concern in the debt funding space. </div></div>But construction risk continues to dominate conversation. Integrated builder-developer Growthbuilt co-founder Colin Rahim is acutely aware of the challenges in the landscape. &nbsp;“I’ve been told it’s not going to rain for a while,” Rahim says as the room erupts in laughter.&nbsp;It’s gallows humour for an industry that has been pushed to its limits with a pandemic, unabated price escalations, labour shortages and more than 200 rain days in 2022.&nbsp;“We haven’t been immune to everything that’s happened over the past few years with Covid, price escalations, La Niña and what’s happening with planning. It’s taking so much longer for projects to get started, and that’s affecting pricing, ” Rahim says.&nbsp;“Three years ago formwork for example was $80 a square metre, we’re paying up to $140 to $160 per square metre today.<div id="5GMu8gKKpOLVMdM05oMy9s"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/7zw2BmCS7BFdD97s3tnvwz/9208c763e6ba1ae1ac4155849598a94e/Colin_Rahim_MID2.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/7zw2BmCS7BFdD97s3tnvwz/9208c763e6ba1ae1ac4155849598a94e/Colin_Rahim_MID2.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Growthbuilt co-founder Colin Rahim says the time involved in getting projects out of the ground is adding cost to the bottom line. </div></div>Rahim says builders are now more like “risk merchants” and are having to manage consultants and subcontractors harder in order to meet time frames. He says the Design and Building Practitioner Act, which was adopted in 2021 has added more time and costs into projects, impacting feasibility.&nbsp;“In the Class 2 space, builders are increasingly choosing not to participate. Contracts haven’t changed to reflect the additional regulation, which leaves contractors taking on a lot of the risk. We have made adjustments to our strategy to ensure we can weather the storm and that’s been very effective for us, but at a certain point that level of risk becomes non commercial.” he says.&nbsp;“There’s no doubt the DBP Act will improve quality throughout the industry, which was really needed, at Growthbuilt we have always aimed for, and achieved, high quality process and product. However, it has made the whole design process that we work through with our consultants so much longer and that adds enormous pressure to project timelines.”<div id="6rdTsEsOxotyCnB6dbu6dv"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6n8sqf3py8ngzDoTRBZjfj/2e93adf7875a8f494c4445c3fd6b625f/Justin_Brown_MID3.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6n8sqf3py8ngzDoTRBZjfj/2e93adf7875a8f494c4445c3fd6b625f/Justin_Brown_MID3.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Abadeen Group managing director Justin Brown says the luxury end of the residential market has remained robust. </div></div> Abadeen Group Managing Director Justin Brown agrees planning constraints and regulatory requirements are significantly adding to the costs and viability of projects.&nbsp;“I think the site market at the moment is a function of time versus price,” Brown says.“It now takes 2.5 years to get a project to construction versus 4 years ago being 12 to 18 months. &nbsp;“We are starting to see green shoots within the market, premium projects such as One Circular Quay in Sydney, Woollahra Collection in Woollahra, Helm’s new development in Mosman, are showing that the discerning Boomer market that isn’t reliant on debt is robust.”Legacy Property chief executive Matthew Hyder says the greenfield sector is no different when it comes to planning difficulties.&nbsp;“Rezonings have only gotten more challenging in recent years, particularly the amount of time required to be successful,” Hyder says. &nbsp;“We are 100 per cent focused on working with the best consultants, and it has still taken more than five years each to rezone sites in North Sydney, Penrith and Northern Wollongong. &nbsp;But it’s worth it because once you do, you have a tremendously valuable piece of land. You do get paid for it, but it’s hard, risky work.<div id="1lmxSlc52r9gNyzq6xB7sa"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6qDddrhyYUVz1nAzqIWvv1/82f2459a141689d16456698f6ca6410d/Matthew_Hyder_MID4.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6qDddrhyYUVz1nAzqIWvv1/82f2459a141689d16456698f6ca6410d/Matthew_Hyder_MID4.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Legacy Property chief executive Matthew Hyder says greenfield has also been impacted by planning constraints. </div></div>“In Greater Sydney, because the planning system is so challenging, I like the risk-reward trade. The riskiest part of development here is in planning when you have the least amount of money out the door.”MaxCap’s Bill McWilliams says he is seeing more tension between developers and builders on cost escalation in the current landscape.&nbsp;“I’m seeing builders locked into a fixed price contract maybe 18 months ago, and the reality is they cannot build it for what that fixed price is. So, in some instances, they will ask for more money, and good developers are acknowledging that,” McWilliams says.“The worst thing that can happen on any project is the builder falls over. So I think there’s a willingness to make that work, albeit developers profit margins have also been squeezed by increased funding costs, so the solution is not always straightforward.”&nbsp;McWilliams says due diligence with contractors has stepped up to mitigate risk and builders and contractors were more aware of that and providing more financial information. He is forecasting more development sites will come to market in the next 12 months but most developers would look to blue skies and hold their site through the current cycle.&nbsp;<div id="1RMMbvbmpBygxlG5pryE0s"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/75EJM1QzvH90CMI7axnI41/94a132baf2083257b7b1fc2b098ad54b/CEO_Roundtable_MID5.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/75EJM1QzvH90CMI7axnI41/94a132baf2083257b7b1fc2b098ad54b/CEO_Roundtable_MID5.jpg"></picture><div>▲ MaxCap head of research Bruce Wan brought data insights to the conversation. </div></div>MaxCap head of research Bruce Wan says the inflationary shock of fuel price rises materially impacted the cost of building materials, and as it unwinds over the next year it will flow back through the market.&nbsp;“We always see fuel prices tick up first, steel tends to follow and your other building components rise during an inflation shock. The same sort of thing applies as we pull back from this inflationary environment,” Wan says.&nbsp;“We have already seen fuel prices starting to fall 33 per cent from its peak last year, and it’s already found its way to steel prices. The rest of that transmission mechanism will take about a year to flow through. The unwind will take a year or two.&nbsp;“The good news is we’ve probably seen the peak. The bad news is discounting is going to work its way back into builder margins.”The Urban Developer and MaxCap Group hosted the roundtable in Sydney this month to tackle the issues impacting development in New South Wales and get a temperature check on the health of the sector.&nbsp; <hr> You are currently experiencing The Urban Developer Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals. <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans">Click here to learn more.</a><a href="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-mce-href="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg"></a><div id="2GhuueZl01Zwo2aFfjNVi2"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg" alt="TUD + Banner" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg"></picture><div> </div></div><a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans"></a><a href="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-mce-href="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg"></a>

Nothing was off the table as some of New South Wales’ biggest developers across industrial, greenfield, office and residential talked shop and looked for the blue skies on the horizon at The Urban Developer and MaxCap roundtable...

But construction risk continues to dominate conversation. Integrated builder-developer Growthbuilt co-founder Colin Rahim is acutely aware of the challenges in the landscape.  

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The John Curtin Hotel and other significant buildings in Carlton are one step closer to stronger heritage protection after the City of Melbourne council adopted the Carlton Heritage Review. At its meeting on Tuesday night, the council voted unanimously to endorse the independent planning panel’s recommendations and adopt <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/john-curtin-hotel-heritage-precinct-carlton-heritage-review-fmc" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/john-curtin-hotel-heritage-precinct-carlton-heritage-review-fmc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Carlton Heritage Review and Punt Road Oval Heritage Review</a>, which now form Amendment C405 to the Melbourne Planning Scheme. It will now go to Victorian planning minister Sonya Kilkenny, who will make the final determination.“We have now done the Hoddle Grid heritage review, the North Melbourne heritage review, the South Yarra heritage review and Parkfield heritage review in recent meetings,”&nbsp;City of Melbourne lord mayor Sally Capp said.“This was part of a commitment to our community to ensure that we had an active agenda of addressing these issues across our municipality.”While 24 new properties will be added to the heritage overlay as part of this review, four will be removed as well as 41 category changes made and three small precincts created. One of those will be the Former Carlton Union Hotels Precinct at 1 to 31 Lygon Street, which will include the John Curtin Hotel at 27 Lygon Street; the former Dover Hotel at 1-7 Lygon Street; two shops at 9 and 13-15 Lygon Street; the former BLF office at 11 Lygon Street; and the former Australian Council of Trade Unions offices at 17-25 Lygon Street. In 2022, the John Curtin Hotel was sold to a private developer with <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/john-curtin-hotel-green-ban-construction-workers" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/john-curtin-hotel-green-ban-construction-workers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">union members and others in the community </a>concerned that the site would not be sufficiently protected from development.<a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/john-curtin-hotel-green-ban-construction-workers" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/john-curtin-hotel-green-ban-construction-workers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A green ban</a>, prohibiting construction workers from working on any development on the property, was proposed in May 2022.Green bans have been used in the past to save several of Melbourne’s heritage buildings from demolition or development before they could be listed and protected.The John Curtin Hotel has long been a gathering spot for trade union activists, politicians and musicians, and was one of the first places where First Nations musicians were allowed to perform. It is also being assessed as part of a separate process to determine if it can be considered to have state significance.<div id="5WotKlQ5gnuHfvLj98r27R"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/11OeTiDqQlXgRU7lvxcmeF/03820f6448a038f6255276f7d205dd28/john_curtin_hotel_story_mid_article_image.jpg" alt="Former Victorian premier Steve Bracks, former opposition leader Bill Shorten and current Victorian premier sharing drinks to celebrate former PM Bob Hawke. Source: The John Curtin Hotel" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/11OeTiDqQlXgRU7lvxcmeF/03820f6448a038f6255276f7d205dd28/john_curtin_hotel_story_mid_article_image.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Former Victorian premier Steve Bracks, former opposition leader Bill Shorten and current Victorian premier Daniel Andrews celebrate former PM Bob Hawke at the John Curtin Hotel. Source: The John Curtin Hotel </div></div>The recommendations from the independent planning panel said it could not be given social significance at the local government level.Lovell Chen’s Carlton Heritage Review November 2021 (updated February 2023) and GML Heritage’s Punt Road Oval Heritage Review 2021 (updated February 2023) reports were part of the independent planning panel’s consideration.&nbsp; Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas announced as part of the recent state Budget, an allocation of $2 million to, in part, help implement a planning overlay change that would better protect local live music venues.&nbsp;The City of Melbourne is undertaking heritage reviews to address a gap in local government level protections for interwar, post-war and post-modern period buildings which have been previously left off the heritage register and therefore had no protection. Most recently, The Tote hotel, at 67-71 Johnston Street in Collingwood was facing closure after previous owners Jon Perring and Sam Crupi decided to sell up after trying twice to save it.<div id="5RDtAJ48TlcfdUtjsqIylq"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6K4nYzrVGlig5lDIaPAct9/257e5cd0c6a3bab5b61e7aa61752589a/the_tote_hotel_.jpg" alt="Community members and music lovers have raised $3 million in a crowdfunding campaign organised by Shane Hilton and Leanne Chance to buy The Tote Hotel in Collingwood. " data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6K4nYzrVGlig5lDIaPAct9/257e5cd0c6a3bab5b61e7aa61752589a/the_tote_hotel_.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Community members and music lovers raised $3 million in a crowd-funding campaign organised by Shane Hilton and Leanne Chance to buy The Tote Hotel in Collingwood. </div></div>But a crowd-funded campaign called “Save the Tote” raised $3 million to help Shane Hilton and Leanne Chance buy The Tote and keep it operating as a live music venue. Hilton and Change also operate the Last Chance Rock and Roll Bar near the Queen Victoria Markets.&nbsp;The Carlton heritage review now goes to the Victorian planning minister for final approval.&nbsp;

The John Curtin Hotel gets more protection as it is rolled into a hotels precinct in City of Melbourne council’s adopted Carlton Heritage Review…


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A boutique six-storey office building proposal has been filed for an infill site within the mixed-use zone of inner-city Brisbane’s popular James Street precinct.It has been lodged with the Brisbane City Council by an entity linked to Lion Property Group co-founders Garry Pesochinsky and John Sader.Earmarked for a 562sq m parcel at 43 Commercial Road, Newstead, the proposal would comprise a gross floor area of 2034sq m across five levels of office space, including a communal wellness floor, and a ground-level shop tenancy as well as a pocket park.It would also incorporate a partially covered rooftop garden terrace designed as a breakout area for tenants with views of the CBD and Brisbane River.The proposed commercial building would replace a block of four two-bedroom units that now occupies the site. Under the plans, however, some of the bricks from its demolition would be reclaimed and utilised as part of the development on the ground floor.A submitted planning report noted the proposal exceeds the four-storey acceptable height outcome for the site under the Fortitude Valley Neighbourhood Plan within the James Street precinct.But it deemed that a six-storey building would “not feel or appear out of place” and the plans aligned with community expectations as the James Street precinct “supports a range of building heights, depending on the zoning and location of a site”.<div id="3UTtk59Vb4i98mLdJGajrt"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/7Hp0e2rjzDEpSm9dBCNa0k/bb4f3c9bba7e825d9b4ef0e1d99dcc54/newstead1__1_.png" alt="Render of the proposed boutique office building at Newstead." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/7Hp0e2rjzDEpSm9dBCNa0k/bb4f3c9bba7e825d9b4ef0e1d99dcc54/newstead1__1_.png"></picture><div>▲ A render of the proposed boutique office building at Newstead. </div></div>“The proposal delivers a building that is of a height and proportion that responds to other emerging developments in the locality,” the report said.“While it is acknowledged that the acceptable outcome for height is exceeded, a lesser height would not result in a superior built form or amenity outcome, particularly at the streetscape level.“To this end the development has put greater emphasis on creating a superior ‘human scale’ and ‘activated frontage’ which is commensurate with a building of this scale.”<div id="1UQ2g8CPGXhuHdHkAQYea6"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1z0JXpReFsJGfGsXQ6HLXB/a4cb1405db2e92d8e9b9817b44359066/Untitled_design_-_2023-05-29T144453.148.jpg" alt="Render of the proposed boutique office building at Newstead." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1z0JXpReFsJGfGsXQ6HLXB/a4cb1405db2e92d8e9b9817b44359066/Untitled_design_-_2023-05-29T144453.148.jpg"></picture><div>▲ A render of the interior of the proposed office building on James Street. </div></div>The scheme designed by architecture studio Bayley Ward also includes car and bicycle parking spaces at ground level.“The site benefits from being a part of an evolving suburb that showcases architectural excellence and is currently undergoing significant transformation and growth,” a design statement said.“The subject site proposal upholds the ambitions of the mixed-use zoning, delivering a premium commercial workplace … [and] reinforces the varied and diverse architecture and urban form that distinguishes Fortitude Valley from the CBD and other parts of Brisbane, through innovative building construction, architecture and urban design that reflects its creative and heritage values.”

A boutique six-storey office building proposal has been filed for an infill site within the mixed-use zone of inner-city Brisbane’s popular James Street precinct.

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A wave of government-led investment and new revenue streams for the film industry has property players eyeing coming opportunities in related facilities.vbvBut property developers looking to ride the growth in demand for Australian screen production facilities need to understand the nuances of the industry to take advantage, observers say.Screen Producers Australia chief executive Matthew Deaner says that “there’s an expansion of the sector happening”.&nbsp;“And the reality is we need more facilities to be able to service lots of different layers.”<h2>Covid prompts mega-facilities</h2> Hollywood productions decamped en masse to Australia in 2021, attracted by a relatively Covid-free environment.&nbsp;In response, new film facility projects have popped up, including a <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/peter-montgomery-plans-440-million-coffs-harbour-film-studio" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/peter-montgomery-plans-440-million-coffs-harbour-film-studio">$440-million Coffs Harbour play</a> led by Russell Crowe, and a $100-million WA project.&nbsp;The proponent of the WA project is developer Hesperia, who intends to operate the facility through a subsidiary, Home Fire.A spokesperson from WA’s Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage told The Urban Developer that the project is under assessment by the WA Planning Commission and, if approved, will break ground before the end of the year.<div id="6oinmunhxKsgblDNeJ79jN"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/240zIAhn9R8B10UUDAeJx7/ebc92d0118bd92882d9048976db36885/Mid_article_resizes__2_.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/240zIAhn9R8B10UUDAeJx7/ebc92d0118bd92882d9048976db36885/Mid_article_resizes__2_.jpg"></picture><div>▲ A render of the $100-million studio slated for Western Australia. </div></div>While there’s no guarantee that pandemic-induced demand for Australian facilities will continue, screen industry players are optimistic that incoming push-pull regulation will provide a new baseline for industry revenues.<h2>New regulation to stabilise revenue</h2> As of July 1, an amendment to the Location Offset will increase filmmakers’ tax rebate to 30 per cent.&nbsp;Meanwhile, the Albanese government announced in January its intention to regulate streaming services’ investment into Australian content.&nbsp;That move is widely expected to take the form of a mandated 20 per cent of domestic revenues pushed back into the local industry, to take effect from July 1 next year.Acting Screen Queensland chief executive Dr Belinda Burns says “the global demand for screen content, particularly for streaming platforms such as Netflix, Stan and Disney+, is exploding, and so is the need for suitable production spaces for production and post-production”.Deaner agrees, saying that “[streaming services] have big pockets and, collectively, a global spend of about $30 billion or so on content production”.“Australia’s looking to capture its part of that as part of a regulatory exercise. That goes hand in hand with stable tax incentives which have been announced to ensure we also are an attractive place to shoot.“I would say those pieces will result in more private sector money being injected into the industry now and consistently into the future.“For the industry and surrounding industries it means things are more stable and secure and sustainable.”&nbsp;<div id="64cHvU8ToASy60iWIpxUhk"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/nsC3fDBvfG1f6FsOtfnUp/cc073d40ad9aa237a4799fe183747036/2.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/nsC3fDBvfG1f6FsOtfnUp/cc073d40ad9aa237a4799fe183747036/2.jpg"></picture><div>▲ A render of the Cairns studio under construction on the former site of a Bunnings. </div></div><h2>Public purse leads infrastructure push</h2> Previous plays into the Australian film industry by property stakeholders and big funds have not always gone smoothly.Melbourne’s Docklands studios were initially developed by the Victorian government with a private consortium of investors and property developers, who pulled out in 2008 after underwhelming returns.&nbsp;A Macquarie Bank foray into film production in the 2000s, Macquarie Film Corporation, was rolled up after just seven years. Its string of comedies had tanked so badly with audiences that observers were concerned it may have killed off the industry.Asset managers are active in the acquisition and operation of filming facilities overseas but their counterparts in Australia are tight-lipped about big funds’ interest in—or wariness of—similar local projects.That leaves governments and established film industry players to lead and capitalise on the demand for more filming facilities in Australia.“I think that governments have realised that they’ve got to have infrastructure in place to bring all sorts of productions to fruition,” Deaner says.“And it’s not always the case that private capital feels [screen production infrastructure] is the safest investment—it can depend often on the relationships the private capital has with the sector.”<div id="3ivATqpu9pwjDKnboefCuW"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/7iWlUwPbr3faSejvGvHflg/ab24b7ec99660743fcf6b47eea19b457/Mid_article_resizes__1_.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/7iWlUwPbr3faSejvGvHflg/ab24b7ec99660743fcf6b47eea19b457/Mid_article_resizes__1_.jpg"></picture><div>▲ A still from The Clearing, coming to Disney+, a psychological thriller television series shot in Victoria. </div></div><h2>Location is key</h2> Screen Queensland is constructing a new government-owned facility in Cairns, stumping up $12.6 million alongside a further $7.95 million from the Palaszczuk government for operational costs.It will fit into Screen Queensland’s existing portfolio, including a large soundstage complex in Brisbane, and a coming $5-million facility on the Gold Coast.Burns told The Urban Developer that the Cairns site was carefully chosen.“We investigated a number of commercial sites available at the time, taking into deep consideration how existing infrastructure could be converted into a sound stage and support facilities like production offices, construction workshops, hair and makeup departments and more.&nbsp;“Ample space, height, carparks, electricity, data bandwidth and a competitive lease were huge factors, as was the proximity to the international airport, accommodation and dining.”Deaner says that property developers need to consider bedding down ongoing costs and revenue streams.“To de-risk it for a developer, you would want to be close to a whole range of infrastructure [airports, logistics, crew housing]. It’s a game of risk mitigation.“Sometimes private studios might have an arrangement with government; they might have been given certain dispensations to be able to help manage costs, or try to mitigate risk.“[Large Hollywood films] may not necessarily be the most practical and sensible option for property developers. It really depends on a range of factors.&nbsp;“They may be better off thinking about this through the prism of returnable television series, that need a particular piece of infrastructure year after year. In some ways that is lower-risk.” <hr> You are currently experiencing The Urban Developer Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals. <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans">Click here to learn more.</a><div id="2GhuueZl01Zwo2aFfjNVi2"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg" alt="TUD + Banner" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg"></picture></div>

Tax concessions, government-mandated investment and streaming services’ ravenous appetite—opportunities in the film industry are on the rise… 

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In a shift to office projects, developer Bathla has filed plans for a 21-storey office tower on the outskirts of Blacktown’s CBD in New South Wales.The 1240sq m site at 30 First Avenue, Blacktown, in Western Sydney will boast an office tower with some retail if the City of Blacktown council and the Sydney Central City Planning Panel approve the application.Bathla’s plans for the tower include six basement levels to provide 155 carparking spaces.There will be 287sq m of gross floor area for retail use and 696sq m of space for function centres.Another 362.5sq m of space will be set aside for recreational facilities while the total office gross floor area will be 11995.6 square metres.The two retail tenancies and one of the offices will be on the ground floor with the entrance lobby for the rest of the office space.A bar and lounge, function centre, food preparation area and another office will be on the first floor.Two more function rooms, another bar and lounge and a kitchen will be on the second floor.The third floor will have a chiller room, changing rooms and office space.Floors 5-20 will each have office space and amenities with the layout changing slightly on certain floors.<div id="2MeGT3U3ylj6i8EB6vEqty"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/50JPKXCklDq0b3JkSrW6xv/a0f1185d103f56f092da0aa580e5004c/bathla_office_tower_blacktown_story_mid_article_image.jpg" alt="The office tower will have 21 storeys but also six basement levels for car parking." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/50JPKXCklDq0b3JkSrW6xv/a0f1185d103f56f092da0aa580e5004c/bathla_office_tower_blacktown_story_mid_article_image.jpg"></picture><div>▲ The office tower will have 21 storeys but also six basement levels for carparking. </div></div>According to documents submitted with the application, the entire project is estimated to cost $33.6 million.Bathla Investments Pty Ltd, the applicant for the project, is a venture between Universal Property Group Pty Ltd, Raj and Jai Construction Pty Ltd and Western Sydney Property Group Pty Ltd.&nbsp; Universal Property Group trades regularly as The Bathla Group.&nbsp;The project has been designed by Bathla with construction also expected to be carried out by the developer.CoreLogic’s property records list the site as being sold by First Ave Pty Ltd in September 2022 with settlement in December 2022 for $7.6 million.CBRE Western Sydney’s Alex Mirzaian handled the sale to Sneh and Samisha Pty Ltd.ASIC records show that Neetu Dawar and Suman Lata are the directors and shareholders of Sneh and Samisha Pty Ltd.Bathla has most recently filed an application for <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/bathla-central-coast-masterplan-development-application" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/bathla-central-coast-masterplan-development-application" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a Central Coast masterplanned project with 400 apartments</a> but has also recently<a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/bathla-austral-residential-development-application-sydney" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/bathla-austral-residential-development-application-sydney" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> filed plans for a four-storey tower block in Western Sydney</a>.&nbsp;

The highly prolific developer has filed yet another project, this time an office tower, with the City of Blacktown council…


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The Murray River ambles slowly between the twin cities of Albury and Wodonga, demarcating the battle lines between New South Wales and Victoria.And while the two states may enjoy a friendly rivalry, the twin cities are getting along swimmingly, chalking up solid migration and a slew of investment in the region as a lifestyle destination.&nbsp;Albury was recently capped Wotif’s top town to visit in 2023, for its slower pace at the doorstep to wine country, the Murray River and ski fields.&nbsp;And the regional hub is shaking off its pit-stop identity on the road between Sydney and Melbourne to become a bonafide destination, capturing the attention of foodies for its high-end restaurants, whisky and wine bars, and cultural experiences.&nbsp;Albury’s first watering hole opened its doors in 1840–and hotelier Peter Griffiths is carrying on the city’s love affair with a cold beer and community.&nbsp;Griffiths spearheaded the reinvigoration of the run-down Astor Hotel Motel (featured in the main image) in Albury’s Young Street.Griffiths says he had bought another Astor at Goulburn and knew that there would be good bones to the rundown sister asset.&nbsp;“We came down in 2019 when we purchased The Astor in Albury. There was a guy who built 17 hotel-motels, all called The Astor, in the 1960s, and then he went broke,” Griffiths says.<div id="1CDgDf3EJy47GqzZLYSqjw"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2Hzjnr0Jv79zWfv6nQLmSK/7e08e5c5fb0329043ef3ad98fdfdded6/Astor_Hotel.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2Hzjnr0Jv79zWfv6nQLmSK/7e08e5c5fb0329043ef3ad98fdfdded6/Astor_Hotel.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Peter Griffiths acquired the rundown Astor Hotel Motel at Albury and turned it into a destination. </div></div><a href="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2Hzjnr0Jv79zWfv6nQLmSK/7e08e5c5fb0329043ef3ad98fdfdded6/Astor_Hotel.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-mce-href="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2Hzjnr0Jv79zWfv6nQLmSK/7e08e5c5fb0329043ef3ad98fdfdded6/Astor_Hotel.jpg"> </a>“There are three left, at Goulburn, Wagga and Albury.“We engaged Melbourne-based architects Techne (who have now opened a studio in Albury) to give the hotel an uplift. They did an amazing job and the hotel has never looked back.”Griffiths says they were able to remove layers of detritus to reveal the modernist design of the 60s and restore it to create an iconic destination for travellers and locals. It can also be hired out as the perfect backdrop for a photoshoot.&nbsp;“We’ve refurbished 1000sq m of space. The next stage of that is we’re looking to build on our 45 rooms here on the motel side. The rooms don’t reflect the finish or the quality that people are accustomed to now in the pub.“We have acquired land behind the hotel and we are looking at doing 40 boutique rooms. It’s quite a sophisticated market and we were surprised at the volume of our occupancy after the renovation works.&nbsp;“When we first took it on we were doing $150,000 in room revenue. We’re forecast to do $2 million this financial year. It’s a stopover point for people travelling from Melbourne, but it’s also a strong regional city for education, transport and tourism.”Griffiths says his next venture is Kinross Hotel at Thurgoona, a residential growth area on Albury’s outskirts, which he acquired in November last year and plans to invest “many millions” in. &nbsp;“What we try and do is pick up regional hotels that are struggling, and develop the upside,” he says.The Kinross Hotel includes the 1890s woolsheds from the former Kinross Station, which were moved to the site in 1988. Many of the music industry’s biggest stars have performed at the Kinross including international 1980s stars Belinda Carlisle and Rick Astley as well as Australian acts including Jimmy Barnes, Vanessa Amorosi, Diesel, The Whitlams and Lisa Mitchell.<div id="1jRVS8JVZC8sufvmRC40RR"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/452qPWeR1sPZ00yORtTIjq/5b6630b3fb62750b57e2f2649065582d/Billsons_Albury_Wodonga_Plus_MID3.jpg" alt="Nick Travers founder of Techne with Billsons Brewery." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/452qPWeR1sPZ00yORtTIjq/5b6630b3fb62750b57e2f2649065582d/Billsons_Albury_Wodonga_Plus_MID3.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Techne director Nick Travers says the new branch studio in Albury will tap the booming regional market, including the Billsons Brewery project at Beechworth. </div></div> Specialist hospitality architects Techne are tackling the project with a view to creating another destination pub with capacity to accommodate festivals and community events on the expansive site.&nbsp;Techne director Nick Travers said the architecture firm recently set up a satellite studio in Albury to capitalise on the opportunity in the regional hub.&nbsp;“It was a destination pub, but now it’s surrounded by about 10,000 houses,” Travers says.“I think the reinvigoration of regional places is a real positive out of Covid lockdowns and the bump in domestic tourism.“When Peter bought the Astor in Albury he recognised it as an undervalued asset, and realised that there’s a lot of pubs that no one historically has put a creative lens on, and that he could reimagine these pubs.”Techne recently opened its Albury studio with Dana Hutchins as the lead. Travers says they had taken on a few projects in the area, including Beechworth, and they had been “pin-wheeling around Albury”.“We had ambitions to open a branch studio, I didn’t exactly think it would be Albury. I’m really pleased with it, it’s turning out to be a really great market for us,” he says.&nbsp;Techne is applying its placemaking hospitality architecture and interiors expertise, showcased in the likes of The Espy at St Kilda and Garden State in Melbourne’s CBD, to other regional offerings including Billson's Brewery in Beechworth and All Saints Estate winery in Rutherglen.&nbsp;Travers says it’s about creating design-and-experience-led projects that cater to both the local community, while also driving inbound tourism and local visitation.&nbsp;<div id="4tTr17gLCZaOhkLwxgtXJg"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/enZOqDDYgwvWu01iAjxH0/e016a37d9511cb27a6106c76387910a2/Albury_Wodonga_MID1.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/enZOqDDYgwvWu01iAjxH0/e016a37d9511cb27a6106c76387910a2/Albury_Wodonga_MID1.jpg"></picture><div>▲ While the Murray River divides the twin cities, their collective fortunes are rising with a flood of investment flowing to the region. </div></div> The region, originally home to a migration centre after World War II, is now on the charm offensive, luring would-be residents with a below-average median house price, a knowledge economy, a university campus, a train line connecting the region to Melbourne, and a proposed $558-million redevelopment of Albury's base hospital.Albury Wodonga is now home to about 100,000 people and is listed as Australia’s 20th largest city. It was the focus of intense investment in the early 1970s when the Whitlam federal government identified it as a growth area to decentralise Australia’s capital cities. This was later abandoned.&nbsp;But the reopening of borders and beefed up net overseas migration figures are sure to flow through to major regional cities, which remain robust housing and investment markets.The median house price in Albury is $610,000, well below the New South Wales average of $725,000. Its rental vacancy is also relatively low at 1.4 per cent as of April this year with a forecast annual population growth of 1.3 per cent to 2036.&nbsp;A feasibility study is under way on the former Albury Council depot site, which is slated for redevelopment as an in-fill greenfield site and could be home to “hundreds” of residents on the 1.8ha site.&nbsp;The Albury Entertainment Centre is in line for a $30-million expansion, 305km of existing rail corridor between metropolitan Melbourne and the Victoria-NSW border at Albury Wodonga is being upgraded,&nbsp;On the Wodonga side of the Murray, Aspen is expanding its retirement living portfolio with a $60-million, 173-unit development, and a $45-million, 104-bed private hospital has been proposed.While it may be a tale of two cities, it’s clear that collectively the region is developing some pulling power.&nbsp; <hr> You are currently experiencing The Urban Developer Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals. <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans">Click here to learn more.</a><div id="2GhuueZl01Zwo2aFfjNVi2"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg" alt="TUD + Banner" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg"></picture></div>

The twin cities of Albury and Wodonga may sit on opposite sides of the NSW-Victoria border, but together they are chalking up solid migration and a slew of investment in the region as a lifestyle destination...

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Japanese real estate house Daibiru has taken a half-stake in Mirvac’s A-grade office tower at 7 Spencer Street on the south-western edge of the Melbourne CBD.The tower is part of plans for the former site of the Melbourne Convention Centre acquired from Century Group Ausby Mirvac for <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/mirvac-acquires-200m-spencer-st-site-for-build-to-rent-portfolio" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/mirvac-acquires-200m-spencer-st-site-for-build-to-rent-portfolio" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$200 million in late 2019</a>.Daibiru now holds 50 per cent of the 21-storey, $630-million tower, which will boast about 46,000sq m of floor space with floorplates up to 3000 square metres.The all-electric tower will target a 5 Star Green Star rating, 4.5 Star NABERS Water rating, 5.5 Star NABERS Energy rating and a Gold WELL Core and Shell rating.The Fender Katsalidis-designed “next-generation” office tower includes 10 terraces to make the most of natural light.Work on the site, on the bank of the Yarra and close to the Flinders Street intersection, began earlier this year.<div id="carousel-root" data-reactroot=""><image-carousel-remove-button><div class="rm-carousel-wrapper"><button id="rm-carousel" class="rm-carousel-btn">Delete</button></div></image-carousel-remove-button><div class="slider-wrap"><image-carousel><div class="slider-el"><img style="height: 100%;" title="1.jpg" src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/ml4etM6jopiqbEMIuGaQg/ce639307a950ab8bda12ca50416a7d03/1.jpg" data-mce-src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/ml4etM6jopiqbEMIuGaQg/ce639307a950ab8bda12ca50416a7d03/1.jpg" data-mce-style="height: 100%;"></div><div class="slider-el"><img style="height: 100%;" title="2.jpg" src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4i7uYXPKwz9iNiCZ2zuQD/ab9a1c24417cb1e21015f6d616211523/2.jpg" data-mce-src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4i7uYXPKwz9iNiCZ2zuQD/ab9a1c24417cb1e21015f6d616211523/2.jpg" data-mce-style="height: 100%;"></div><div class="slider-el"><img style="height: 100%;" title="3.jpg" src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/5ebrqrnqAveBQu6pWw5xVb/46d9dc10a5499df5db4a0de8c06e8cf4/3.jpg" data-mce-src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/5ebrqrnqAveBQu6pWw5xVb/46d9dc10a5499df5db4a0de8c06e8cf4/3.jpg" data-mce-style="height: 100%;"></div></image-carousel></div></div> It is part of Mirvac’s Northbank precinct, which also includes the under-construction build-to-rent tower LIV Aston, which comprises 472 apartments over 32 storeys and is due for completion in mid-2024.According to Mirvac, the precinct also features “a welcoming public realm focused on wellness, sustainability and amenity, with a variety of public spaces and green retreats activated through curated events for future workers, residents and the public to enjoy”.&nbsp;&nbsp;At the time of approval, Mirvac chief investment officer Brett Draffen, said the precinct “represented a once-in-a-generation opportunity to unlock the value of this inner-city site for the benefit of the whole Melbourne community”.&nbsp;This is not Daibiru’s first Australian joint-venture: In 2018 it partnered with John Holland to fund a prime office development in the Sydney CBD at 275 George St in the Sydney CBD in a $240-million deal.Established in 1923, the Japanese developer and owner has a substantial portfolio in Osaka and Tokyo that includes hotel buildings, offices and retail.

Daibiru has taken a half-stake in the A-grade $630m tower under way north of the Melbourne CBD…

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Plans for five residential towers, each of five storeys, have been revealed for Lake Cathie on the New South Wales’ Mid-North Coast.The towers are planned for a 5510sq m site on Whitewater Terrace, Catarina Estate, part of a substantial masterplan development to the south of the village.Lake Cathie, which has a population in 2021 of 4290 people, is 12km south of Port Macquarie and 375km north of Sydney.The plans were lodged with the Port Macquarie Hastings Council late last month, according to BCI records.Under the plans by ELK Designs for developer Catarina Village Pty Ltd, 99 apartments would be spread across the towers for a total of 8690sq m of residential space.The development would also include 1240sq m of commercial space and 148 basement parking space across the five towers. Each tower will have bicycle storage.Apartments, all of which would have balconies, would be a mix of one, two and three bedrooms, and the towers would have views to the south and east of the ocean, which is accessible by foot from the site.<div id="carousel-root" data-reactroot=""><image-carousel-remove-button><div class="rm-carousel-wrapper"><button id="rm-carousel" class="rm-carousel-btn">Delete</button></div></image-carousel-remove-button><div class="slider-wrap"><image-carousel><div class="slider-el"><img style="height: 100%;" title="1.jpg" src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4P9RzFNQbMPdhnsvZ1ni2E/314497850af15445557f5f1f0719b656/1.jpg" data-mce-src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4P9RzFNQbMPdhnsvZ1ni2E/314497850af15445557f5f1f0719b656/1.jpg" data-mce-style="height: 100%;"></div><div class="slider-el"><img style="height: 100%;" title="4.jpg" src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2xSaB2j5gZtXUd55hTFpQv/7a26ebd0c82160b300fbe5835f891550/4.jpg" data-mce-src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2xSaB2j5gZtXUd55hTFpQv/7a26ebd0c82160b300fbe5835f891550/4.jpg" data-mce-style="height: 100%;"></div><div class="slider-el"><img style="height: 100%;" title="3.jpg" src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6gzxzQTiODjwU5xgYyFglA/a7e978db859c15f18a5a7a9fb8513cc0/3.jpg" data-mce-src="http://images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6gzxzQTiODjwU5xgYyFglA/a7e978db859c15f18a5a7a9fb8513cc0/3.jpg" data-mce-style="height: 100%;"></div></image-carousel></div></div> The design statement said that at least 20 per cent of the apartments could incorporate the Silver Level universal design features of the Livable Housing Guidelines.“The landscape area promotes social interaction among the residents and visitors as well as interaction with the local streetscape, it provides spaces that are public and private as well as connections through to the future developments of the site.”The construction cost is listed as a little more than $20 million.According to ASIC records, Damian Edward Obeid, from Concord in Sydney, is the director and secretary of Catarina Village, and Obeid Corporation Pty Ltd is listed as the ultimate holding company.

Damian Obeid’s Catarina Village has filed Catarina Village plans for the 99-apartment precinct on the NSW Mid-North Coast…

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A multi-level warehouse complex has begun to rise in Sydney’s inner-south.Charter Hall Group’s Ascent Logistics Centre, known as Ascent on Bourke, at Alexandria, 5km east of the CBD, will create nearly 27,000sq m of logistics space across two levels, including 5000sqm of A-grade office and well-being space.Due for completion in 2024, Ascent on Bourke is 80 per cent pre-leased with Schindler and Coles Group as two of its pre-committed tenants. Around 4000sq m of warehouse space and less than 1000sq m of office space remains. It was <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/charter-hall-alexandria-logistics-site-sydney" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/charter-hall-alexandria-logistics-site-sydney">approved in March</a>.The complex will add “an additional modern long WALE logistics facility to the $2.5-billion Charter Hall-managed CLP portfolio”, according to the company.It said the development is “situated in an inner Sydney ‘last-mile’ location close to the densely populated CBD and eastern suburbs”, and that Ascent on Bourke would be one of the first advanced multi-level warehouses in Australia.Charter Hall Industrial and Logistics chief executive Richard Stacker said it addressed “existing space limitations and meets growing demand for high-quality, well-located warehouse and logistics facilities with proximity to consumers”.“As land becomes scarcer—particularly in cities like Sydney that are landlocked—and online commerce continues to grow at pace, the need for multi-level warehouse projects will accelerate,” he said.<div id="6Q5lyM8OT78RiwbEzHKOZY"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2rlV7L8wuh4nOKGGy0qw8z/cc26ae6e34806edc4f4fab98eb133c64/ascent_mid.png" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2rlV7L8wuh4nOKGGy0qw8z/cc26ae6e34806edc4f4fab98eb133c64/ascent_mid.png"></picture><div>▲ Ascent on Bourke is due for completion next year. </div></div>Targeting a 5-Star Green Star Design and As-Built rating from the Green Building Council of Australia, the project will include 300kV of solar installations, rainwater harvesting, deep soil landscaping and low-VOC finishes.Ascent on Bourke will include 64 bicycle parking spaces, premium end-of-trip facilities and public transport connections.Coles Group executive general manager operations and supply chain Kevin Gunn said the Ascent on Bourke development was a key strategic site helping them meet the growing demands of the Sydney metropolitan region.“This site will complement our existing network and support the delivery of Coles’ anytime, anywhere, anyhow strategy by offering customers access to market-leading range and service,” he said.CBRE data showed rental growth for warehouse space in inner-south Sydney had surged 40 per cent over the past 18 months and was expected to climb another 30 per cent over the next three years, CLP fund manager Simon Greig said.“With this approach already well-established in places such as Hong Kong and Singapore where land is scarce and expensive, more complex projects like multi-level warehousing are the best way to meet demand while maximising land use in last-mile hotspots—as well as returns for our investors.”

Works has begun on Charter Hall’s multi-level warehouse 5km from Sydney’s CBD… 

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“We’ve knocked back about $7 billion worth of work just this year.”That jaw-dropping confession from Scott Hutchinson, chairman of Australia’s largest privately-owned construction company, paints a telling picture.And, clearly, the view from the industry’s top tier is no postcard to send home.Rather, it is a grim panorama of an industry still reeling from pandemic-induced challenges—notably supply chain disruptions, materials shortages and cost escalation—and is now grappling with a dire lack of capacity to deliver a massive national pipeline of public and private projects.At last count, Australia’s construction industry was facing a shortage of 214,000 skilled workers.“The market will sort itself out but it won’t be pretty,” Hutchinson says.Perhaps nowhere more so than Hutchinson Builders’ home state of Queensland, where the&nbsp;demand-to-supply ratio for labour is 2:1—meaning&nbsp;there are two workers needed for every one worker that is available.&nbsp;According to the latest Construction Skills Queensland data, across the state there is a construction pipeline of $65.6 billion in committed projects and $107.2 billion in planned projects.Overall, its five-year public infrastructure program now stands at a level not seen since the resources boom in 2012. And that is without works for the 2032 Olympics factored in.But the challenge for Queensland—particularly in the ever-shortening lead-up to the Brisbane Olympics—lies in the fact it is competing with demand for talent, materials and resources from significantly greater pipelines south of its border in New South Wales and Victoria.And, historically, the Sunshine State has not been a preferred stomping ground of many Tier 1 construction firms—somewhat constraining its capacity by comparison.“Right now, we’ve got a shocking bottleneck,” Hutchinson says. “It’s as bad as it can get and as bad as I’ve seen.”&nbsp;<div id="1YwyK5IROX5urSuWOgp5ie"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2JoURHt5eymsebDyxW8nMR/e21ae05d31b93900be78eef54a749599/1.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2JoURHt5eymsebDyxW8nMR/e21ae05d31b93900be78eef54a749599/1.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Scott Hutchinson: you can only do so much. </div></div>Of the $1.7 billion worth of work put in front of Hutchinson Builders in the past couple of weeks alone, it agreed to go ahead with just $150 million of the projects.But Hutchinson says its judgement calls on jobs are not being based just on capacity but also “quality of clients”. That is, if the price of construction—by his estimates, still “creeping up” by 1 to 2 per cent a month—continues to go up “will that client still be able to build it”.“A lot of it we’ve knocked back because we don’t reckon it’s got much chance of getting off the ground.“You can only do so much,” he says. “So you go with the stuff that’s most likely to go ahead and most likely to make some money.”<h2>Too-hard basket</h2> Australian Constructors Association chief executive Jon Davies says from a vertical construction perspective Queensland is viewed as “a very difficult place to operate”.“That has limited the number of players that operate in Queensland because it’s quite hard to move into the state given the regulatory environment with things like the best practice industrial conditions.“So it’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out because Queensland’s pipeline is increasing significantly … and obviously there's an Olympic overlay to that as well, but it is something that could become problematic,” Davies says.Difficulty in securing a builder has already led to a rising number of developers mothballing their Queensland projects or selling their development approved sites, particularly in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.<div id="1rFThpogC3rwF57roHoFwg"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2c6EjI6mCSgFLlB9PmXq0j/a59ad43350de354b4dd6dacd5f382fb1/2.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2c6EjI6mCSgFLlB9PmXq0j/a59ad43350de354b4dd6dacd5f382fb1/2.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Australian Constructors Association chief executive Jon Davies: Queensland is viewed as “a very difficult place to operate”. </div></div>But, according to Hutchinson, therein lies the key to the industry’s capacity woes.“The big issue is just supply and demand and there's no answer or cure for it,” he says. “We’ll get through it because the private work will fall away, nothing will stack up“That's what’s going to calm it down. And we’re going to see more builders go bust, more jobs mothballed until it sorts itself out.”Davies says with a review under way into the nation’s $120-billion federal infrastructure program, and NSW and Victoria running the rule over their major projects, another scenario also could well play out providing a boost to Queensland’s top tier construction capacity.“We are seeing a greater amount of uncertainty in pipelines of work across the country, with the one exception of Queensland,” he says. “It’s now becoming one of the few places in the country that has a strong and reliable pipeline of work.“And I think despite those sovereign risks associated with doing business in Queensland we will see a natural gravitation of contractors and resources to Queensland for that reason.”Hutchinson, however, has his doubts.<div id="2jOHN3fn6IOVVA1isl5bEB"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4NqrWSoIqodfna5kgdRUMA/ed4a3df8adbce6b60b18428981c6adac/3.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4NqrWSoIqodfna5kgdRUMA/ed4a3df8adbce6b60b18428981c6adac/3.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Brisbane-based developer Don O’Rorke says the bottleneck can only get worse before it gets better. </div></div>“It has been the same thing for years. Queensland has always been a graveyard for interstate builders. The Tier 1 builders come up here, they lose money and then go back. It’s so overly competitive they struggle to make money.”But recently a number of contracts have been awarded to interestate construction firms—including Built, Hansen Yuncken and John Holland—to deliver hospital expansions across the state.Queensland Major Contractors Association chief executive Andrew Chapman says&nbsp;both blue-collar and white-collar workers were needed and for years there has been a “brain drain” to the southern capitals.“There is an attractive pipeline of work up here there is no doubt but when there is still a lot of work going on in Melbourne in Sydney, which is effectively double the amount that's being spent here, you find that companies tend to dedicate a lot more resources to those markets.“But I think as Melbourne, in particular, starts to contract its capital works program we'll start to see resources coming back up here because there’s some exciting projects. You've got the Olympics going to come online … a lot has to happen in a short period of time.“And if we want to make it attractive for industry to work in Queensland we need collaborative procurement and delivery across everything to make that happen.”Davies adds: “There's all these different pipelines of work within the state. Our concern is that there's been a lack of coordination by the government as to how all that work is going to get done. Essentially, they've let a hunger games develop between the delivery agencies, where they are competing against each other for the available rersources.“That isn't helpful for the market. The government needs to play a more active role in coordinating that overall pipeline, because the reality is it's unlikely that combined pipeline as it stands at the moment will be able to be delivered with the resources that are currently available.”Brisbane developer Don O’Rorke—the chief executive of Consolidated Properties, which has teamed with Hutchinson Builders on projects for more than 30 years—says Queensland’s construction pipeline bottleneck can only get worse before it gets better.“It's going to get worse because of the Olympics, public works and housing,” he says. “There’s a huge amount of demand for construction services and an inability of the market to meet that demand.”And despite higher interest rates resulting in a drop in apartment approvals and new starts that may help curb demand for construction services, O’Rorke says: “I think we’re in for a bumpy few years.“It’s going to be a volatile market where not everything that perhaps people want delivered is delivered … only a select number of projects will stack up and get up.”<h2>Problems of growth</h2> On the positive side, he says, the challenges facing Queensland’s development and construction sector are “the problems of growth”.“We are in a high growth economy in south-east Queensland and these are the problems that come with places growing fast.“A country like Japan—where there’s no immigration, the population is ageing and they have very low birth rates—would love to have the problems we’ve got.&nbsp;“So we shouldn’t complain too much. These are the problems of growth and growth we’ve always been after.”<div id="4xbYQwCIEoDe3aBtI9IYh9"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/38bpMAxqx4e0iXsYZljTXN/2383a2d329ed56c21865ed47fa571eeb/4.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/38bpMAxqx4e0iXsYZljTXN/2383a2d329ed56c21865ed47fa571eeb/4.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Riye Arai-Coupe: if you’re expecting to go out to hard tender right now, good luck. </div></div>Riye Arai-Coupe, partner at Brisbane-based development project management and advisory firm Bluebird, agrees but says the market is challenging“Everyone that is delivering or trying to deliver a project right at the moment has never experienced the conditions that we're currently facing.”Last year, she says, the firm's team did more than 2000 feasibilities “so we’re well across what's working and what’s not working”.“If you’re expecting to go out to hard tender right now, good luck. Basically, you’re not going to get anywhere because the builders are so busy. Their workbooks are pretty full right now and they’re very selective in terms of who they want to build with.”But she says there are projects progressing and developers who have “invested in long-term relationships with builders are the ones that will prosper”.Or as Hutchinson sees it: “You don’t want rubbish clients. That’s why a lot of people are struggling to get a builder because they’ve wrung their builder dry for 10 years and everyone knows that now”.Arai-Coupe says Queensland's construction crunch is not only about a lack of builders but, more significantly, a lack of subcontractors in the market able to deliver on the work.“Even if interstate builders come up here, we still need to have the subcontractor base to be able to deliver on those projects.“When they have a choice of whether they deliver traditionally riskier projects relative to government-funded projects, it's a bit of a no-brainer in terms of where they would want to go spend their time and energy right now.“And in terms of the volume of infrastructure projects that are proposed for south-east Queensland and the limited amount of projects getting out of the ground right now … I think it’s a pretty simple picture that’s been painted for our foreseeable future. We just need more people.” <hr> You are currently experiencing The Urban Developer Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals. <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans">Click here to learn more.</a><div id="2GhuueZl01Zwo2aFfjNVi2"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg" alt="TUD + Banner" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg"></picture></div>

When one of Australia’s top builders says he’s knocked back $7 billion worth of work this year, you know things are far from normal...

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