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The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has signed a management contract for a new hotel and branded residences to be located in the late Dame Zaha Hadid-designed 582-606 (600) Collins Street.  Planning permits were signed off by the Minister on the 20th of June.

The building will include 196 guestrooms and suites over the lower floors and the upper floors will be known as the Residences at Mandarin Oriental.  The Mandarin Oriental Hotel group will manage the 148 residences.

Likewise, the build will carry 1,742sqm of office space and a hefty 6,500sqm of retail space.

<blockquote>
Mandarin Oriental, Melbourne will feature 196 spacious, contemporary guestrooms and suites designed to reflect local culture, together with features inspired by Mandarin Oriental’s oriental heritage.

The Group will also manage 148 Residences at Mandarin Oriental, located on the tower’s upper floors, which will provide some of the most luxurious private homes in the city. Owners will have exclusive access to the luxury hotel experience, as well as their own bespoke amenities including a private residents’ lounge.
</blockquote>

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/151214_1039_closeup_hires.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Collins Street perspective - planning scheme images"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="327" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/151214_1039_closeup_hires.jpg?itok=2ZfnWGOJ" title="Collins Street perspective - planning scheme images" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Collins Street perspective - planning scheme images</figcaption></figure>Mandarin Oriental Melbourne as it is to be known will feature an all-day dining restaurant and a bar with a landscaped roof terrace.  The building will also house several meeting spaces, an executive club lounge and a Spa at Mandarin Oriental.

The managing director of developer Landream says "we are proud to bring the award-winning Mandarin Oriental brand to Melbourne.  Mandarin Oriental Melbourne will set a new standard for luxury service in the city and will offer a preferred choice to travelers and potential homeowners who desire the finest accommodation".

Group Chief Executive of Mandarin Oriental stated "we are delighted with this opportunity to open our first hotel in Australia.  This new development will be a welcome addition to the brand's growing global portfolio".

A construction start date has not been set however the Mandarin Oriental Melbourne is expected to open in 2023.
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Alastair Taylor

Mandarin Oriental to open its first hotel & residence property in Australia

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100,000 jobs, 80,000 residents and 50,000 students.  They're big numbers and if it goes ahead, the Australian Education City in Werribee East will revolutionise Melbourne's West.

The Herald Sun has been running an interesting week-long series on what Melbourne might look like in future and in John Masanaukas' - the Herald Sun's City Editor - piece on Australian Education City we learnt that a decision on the proposal is due to be made later in the year.

Specifically, the <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/future-melbourne/australian-education-city-one-step-closer-in-melbournes-western-suburbs/news-story/de7f28255d509ed632b14d329b8b0d17">HUN report</a> cites State Finance Minister Robin Scott as saying the AEC's exclusivity period for the area had been extended to September.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/aec_ewez_1.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Mega masterplanned development comes to Melbourne - image via the Herald Sun"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="327" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/aec_ewez_1.jpg?itok=0LkMa3zN" title="Mega masterplanned development comes to Melbourne - image via the Herald Sun" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Mega masterplanned development comes to Melbourne - image via the <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/future-melbourne/australian-education-city-one-step-closer-in-melbournes-western-suburbs/news-story/de7f28255d509ed632b14d329b8b0d17">Herald Sun</a></figcaption></figure>Stepping dramatically away from how we've built new university campuses in the past - think Monash Clayton and La Trobe Bundoora, expansive areas dedicated to education &amp; research - Australian Education City's headline numbers point to a highly integrated, multi-use precinct which would likely result in abnormal transport demands.

Like any other jobs hub, there would be significant demand on getting to the precinct in the morning and departing in the evening, however the 80,000 residents would also increase demand for travel from the precinct in the morning and back to it in the evening.  

Throw in a lot of a students who by their very nature have highly variable transport needs that correlate with their variable university timetables and you have a recipe for disaster if the precinct is not planned with high-quality public transport.

One of the primary features of the area is the existing Werribee line which skirts just outside the northern end of the precinct.  And what's more, it's the same line that would be connected to 'Melbourne Metro 2'.

The site is somewhat unique in that it's likely to attract significant amounts of people from two different city metros and therefore the transport network would need to adapt to cater for this.  Likewise, AEC sits in a prime position to radically alter the way we deliver road-based public transport in the outer suburbs. 

On the eastern side of the Princess Freeway lies Point Cook that looks set to be in pole position in regards to access to the precinct thanks to the Sneydes Road work that's already been implemented.  And herein lies the rub - if rail is put at the heart of the AEC project, the road-based PT network would naturally suit converging on AEC as well.

There is perhaps a unique opportunity to expand the Werribee line's coverage in relation to AEC by building a new diversion which would put a rail station at the very heart of the precinct.

The proponent, through the Herald Sun, is portraying the project as one on the same level as Fishermans Bend - a project that will be ongoing and likely to span multiple decades.  And it's with this in mind coupled with the big numbers that have been reported on, should we not be demanding the precinct be directly served by rail?

Consider the context: Infrastructure Victoria has found Metro 2 to be a candidate project for further consideration and study - despite the fact it came out with a preliminary negative BCR.   The Metro 2 project would see a single rail line run from the northern suburbs right through the heart of the city and out to the south western suburbs in Werribee.

The site as it stands today is lightly developed and is in the truest sense of the word a Greenfield.  Given the vision to build an intensive, integrated precinct, would it not be prudent to take advantage of the sparsely developed land and build a cut and cover tunnel that would divert the Werribee line from Hoppers Crossings into the heart of the site and then back out to Werribee station?

Cut and cover is broadly regarded as a cheaper method of tunneling - except in already built-up areas where disruptive costs become prohibitive - and in the case of AEC, here we have a golden opportunity to put proper high-quality PT infrastructure into a precinct before the artificial lake and street grid is created, with a cheaper-to-construct cut and cover tunnel.

Both Werribee and Hoppers Crossing stations are likely to have their respective level crossings removed in due course and connecting a new tunnel through the heart of AEC to the existing lines would require other non-cut and cover methods of tunneling in order to avoid property acquisition.

The premise is that all metro services would deviate via the tunnel with a second layer of rail service to Geelong on top of the faster Southern Cross services extending from Werribee, therefore servicing AEC from both Melbourne &amp; Geelong, when the line is electrified as outlined in the 2012 Heavy Rail Network Development Plan.

<iframe frameborder="0" height="480" scrolling="no" src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1uW1QnoZ-BUuhGyljrlTb_yQJYjE&amp;hl=en&amp;z=14" width="100%"></iframe>

Blue line: cut and cover tunnel through the majority of the site, built before the street grid and water features are implemented and major development work kicks off. (Approximately 3.3km)

Red line: traditional mined/bored tunnels to connect the cut and cover tunnel to the main line. (Approximately 1.4km)

Brown lines: two possible major BRT routes linking the local area directly into the heart of the precinct.
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East Werribee, Australian Education City and what to do about public transport

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Last week <a href="https://www.o.bike/">oBike</a> - a Singaporean-based dockless bike sharing scheme - began a <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/are-you-curious-orange-when-it-comes-to-shared-cycling-obike-is-the-new-blue-20170608-gwmz3u">pilot</a> in Melbourne. It's the first of what may be many private-sector bike sharing schemes that could start to proliferate the public realm right across the city and it's worth pondering what this means for the transport network and for local government.

In a nutshell, the system works like this: you download the app on your phone, sign up (which includes a one-time deposit), and then find a bike near you in the app's map user interface. You can reserve a bike near you for ten minutes or if you're near a bike, you can reserve through the app and then scan a QR on the bike's handlebars to unlock it.

The unlocking process gives you access to a helmet that comes with the bike and then you're free to make your trip. At the end of the trip, you go back into the app and then lock the bike; your account will then be debited the charge for the time you've used on the bike.

As wearing a helmet is required to legally ride a bike in Victoria, oBike are starting off on the right foot by providing them for free. Whether the helmets indeed stay with each bike is another story, but it goes a long way to removing the inconvenience factor of cycling on short trips, especially if you intend to use oBike as an extension of the public transport network.

Also benefitting oBike, according to the report in The Age, is the intention to expand the bike-sharing scheme to areas that aren't even covered by the existing Melbourne Bike Share Scheme. Brunswick and South Yarra are notable for having no coverage at present.

And the dockless concept lends itself to providing coverage areas beyond the more densely populated areas right out into the middle ring and perhaps some outer ring suburbs. Especially if councils or the state government incentivise concentrations of bikes at stations.

All that new space under each of the new elevated stations on the Dandenong corridor, for example, are candidates for dedicated mass bike parking areas.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/bikes_parking_in_amsterdam_central_station.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Amsterdam station bike parking: a multi-level parking structure any urbanist can get behind (Wikipedia)"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="387" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/bikes_parking_in_amsterdam_central_station.jpg?itok=Z60Z-KQZ" title="Amsterdam station bike parking: a multi-level parking structure any urbanist can get behind (Wikipedia)" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Amsterdam station bike parking: a multi-level parking structure any urbanist can get behind (Wikipedia)</figcaption></figure>And what to do if oBike and any subsequent competing schemes are embraced take off? Might we go down the Amsterdam path?

We've got time before we'll need anything like they have in Amsterdam, but it's conceivable infrastructure will need to change both in the inner city and elsewhere. Natural destinations for bikes like the Queen Victoria Market, Flinders Street, Southern Cross, The MCG, Richmond Station, North Melbourne Station, Crown and many other points in Southbank and Docklands could see a lot of footpath congestion if there's no decent way to manage an influx of bikes.

And what should we do if things get that popular that people can barely walk down streets because footpaths are overflowing with parked bikes? It would seem it's fun times ahead for councils under a scenario where private bike share schemes are embraced en masse.

Working on the assumption that many of these new operators will expand into multiple Australia cities, a nationally consistent database of bike infrastructure might have a sharpened focus. Knowing where each piece of bike infrastructure is - from bike lanes and trails to footpath hoops and new spaces to be created for an increasing amount of parked bikes - would be valuable for app developers to use.

If one council wants bike share users to utilise new parking spaces over leaving bikes randomly locked to road-side posts, the council need only flag it in the database and the bike share apps can then use this information and direct users to those areas.

Anonymised usage data would conversely be extremely useful for transport planners and encouraging each bike share scheme operator to open this data up would be informative for the public debate on transport policy.

Over to you.

Lead image credit: Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/australiaobike">@Australiaobike</a>
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Pondering what oBike and other dockless cycle schemes mean for Melbourne

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The Age's transport reporter Adam Carey broke the news that Transdev - the operator of one-third of Melbourne's bus network - has initiated a market-lead proposal to bring a modern Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system to Melbourne's East.

The proposal would see road and freeway medians taken over by dedicated bus lanes - including using the wide median in the Eastern Freeway - as well as raised platform stops scattered along the line, The Age <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/bid-to-pave-over-doncaster-rail-reserve-for-melbournes-first-rapid-busway-20170601-gwie1z">reports</a>.

A dedicated fleet of new vehicles would operate the services and as the bus lanes would be located in road medians, the vehicles would require doors to be located on both sides to allow for boarding/disembarking on the right side.

The Age's report states that Transdev proposes services run every three minutes in peak with a journey time of 30 minutes to a new Southern Cross terminus and the vehicles would have a capacity of 150 passengers. In short, the proposed system would operate much like a rail line, just with large capacity buses.

<h2>Comment</h2>

Busways have been proposed in Melbourne in the past and there are a myriad of international examples to look at for inspiration - Transdev in a media release even pointed out it runs similar systems in <a href="https://www.transdev.com.au/media/13417/20170608-doncaster-brt-media-statement-final.pdf">Bogotá, Nantes and Rouen</a> - however this would appear to the be first with any teeth.

Transdev has outlined that the proposal will evolve as consultation begins and thankfully they have committed themselves to this. Because, from the initial reports, there is a yawning gap in the scope: The Age reports that the infrastructure (and I'm assuming the premium-level services) would begin at Donvale, opposite Tunstall Square.

The gap is between Tunstall Square and Nunawading, a natural terminus for the BRT if ever there were one. Nunawading is a premium station which sees good weekday and weekend services that can connect passengers from the BRT to Ringwood, Box Hill and beyond. It could also connect passengers from the outer reaches of the Lilydale/Belgrave lines with a fast and frequent service into Doncaster.

New pieces of public transport infrastructure, as a rule, should maximise connectivity, not simply pushing the same barrow of, for the most part, ferrying suburban commuters to the inner-city like all our current rail lines do.

Notwithstanding the governance merits of this proposal being implemented as a PPP with the terms highlighted in The Age report (it appears Transdev would lock themselves into operating the services for 30 years), terminating this infrastructure at Nunawading naturally leads into turning the entire Springvale Road corridor - all the way to the bay - into a BRT at a later stage.

Melbourne's smartbus routes are routinely hailed as a success and at a conceptual level, this Transdev proposal - if the same type of infrastructure and new bus fleet were to be implemented in other parts of the city - would be an upgrade to the smartbus services in the Springvale Road corridor.

Heading south from Nunawading station, Springvale Road serves many of eastern Melbourne's primary job centres: The Tally Ho business park at Burwood Highway, Glen Waverley &amp; station, Brandon Park at Ferntree Gully Road, the entire eastern edge of the Monash NEC with two high profile intersections at Wellington Road and Springvale junction, Springvale &amp; station, Keysborough and Edithvale station.

Many more major arterial roads which have either 4 or 6 lanes and a median would also be an obvious candidate for study on how to bring high-quality, fast and frequent public transport to the suburbs as well.

One wonders what could have been possible had the infrastructure to support BRT operations as part of the recently announced <a href="https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/planning-and-projects/melbourne-road-projects/outer-suburban-arterial-roads">$1.8 billion PPP to upgrade arterial roads in Melbourne's west</a> been included.

In fact, this should be part of VicRoads modus operandi, how to get higher people, not vehicles, throughput on our arterial roads in part by sequestering existing lanes and in another part adding new dedicated bus lanes for high-frequency bus services.

Overall, it's a welcome addition to the debate on how to transport Melburnians around Melbourne and the consultation process will be one to watch.

Lead image credit: <a href="https://railgallery.wongm.com/melbourne-buses/E106_3866.jpg">Marcus Wong</a>.
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Transdev's Doncaster & Donvale BRT proposal: a welcome addition to the public transport debate

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Two important stories which traverse both transport and housing topic areas were highlighted on Apartments.com.au this week.

The news that the medium and high-density components of <a href="/news/targets-williams-landing-hq-a-boon-for-the-wests-commercial-prospects">Williams Landing will ramp up</a> highlight what some might gloss over but what I think is the correct 'order' of doing things: the rail station is built first, developers then piggyback off the new infrastructure second.

Likewise, this morning's report on <a href="/news/xo-projects-first-database-entry-makes-for-a-sleek-alphington-addition">XO Project's first foray into the UM database</a> is a good example of how the apartment market in Melbourne more broadly is maturing.

<h2>Alphington</h2>

Putting aside price per square metre and whether this (or any) development has a certain percentage of units targeted for affordable housing (at or below market prices for purchasers or units made available for affordable housing associations); putting aside whether the building is "too tall"; putting aside whether the apartments are the "right" internal square metre size - basically putting aside all the standard arguments which have multiple proponents and opponents across academia, the industry, government and the community at large - let's devote our attention to this one aspect for a moment.

It's this one line in Mark's <a href="/news/xo-projects-first-database-entry-makes-for-a-sleek-alphington-addition">article</a>: 

<ul>
<li>109 apartments: 31 x one-bedroom, 56 x two-bedroom, 22 x three-bedroom</li>
</ul>
One project out of 1400 on our database doesn't make a trend, yet this is what I'd call a balanced configuration.  One that should be highlighted given the current set of planning regulations and real estate dynamics that define our current market.

(Apologies for going all Kevin '07), there's merit in calling affordability and housing equity issues the great moral, city-building, challenge of our time, but just for a moment let's pause and celebrate the fact that developers are confident enough to take a development to market that for all intents and purposes will smash the stereotype pedalled by some that apartments are just for singles, couples or investors.

In the arbitrary world of measuring the size of a development by height or number of floors (which I freely admit does the planning world &amp; profession a disservice), I like to call the residential growth zone the Goldilocks Zone: not too small and not too big - the 'just right' size of [potential] development that's not going to send too many members of the community out into the streets with pitchforks. It's the 'just right' compromise that is easily understood.

Despite this development's size not fitting within Goldilocks Zone parameters (it's 9 levels as opposed to the Goldilocks Zone standard of 4 levels), I'm hereby dubbing this and all future projects like it to be a Goldilocks Development.  This is based purely on the diversity of unit configurations available off plan.

A sizeable chunk at the larger end that could conceivably be considered family-friendly and the bulk of the units in the mid-sized configuration.  

If more and more projects currently on the drawing board or those that will be proposed in the future have a similar level of 'off plan' diversity then Melbourne's apartment market will have said goodbye to its formative teenage years and made that first step into adulthood.  

There's a long way to get there, however confirmation that the city's apartment market has moved well and truly into adulthood will happen when we get policy and planning settings right on affordability and when the city's citizens don't feel the need to automatically look to the fringe to start a family.

<h2>Williams Landing</h2>

In Williams Landing we have a small scale but clear cut example of doing things in the right order.  Williams Landing station was opened in April 2013 and thereafter the medium and high-density components kicked off with both the Newton and Oxford apartment buildings entering their registration and sales phases in 2015 and 2016.

Now we have a new catalyst, a commercial building with a well-known brand to have its head office housed there.

In the world of gazing into the crystal ball on how to expand and ultimately augment Melbourne's rail network, talk on how the land surrounding the rail network inevitably gets discussed.  What's now happening in Williams Landing stands as a great example of can happen when we get the order of development right.

Unfortunately for Geelong, its loss is Melbourne's gain with Target moving its head office right next to the Williams Landing station.  

While I have and will continue to applaud businesses who employ large numbers of people under one roof and then choose to locate themselves next to the transport mode which will have the most dramatic impact on lessening our insidious car culture, the way the rail network now operates will make it hard for those who would presumably like to remain living in Geelong but follow their job to Williams Landing.

Geelong trains now run around the back of Werribee and there is a bus that links Tarneit - where some Geelong trains stop - and Williams Landing station, however the frequency of service leaves little to be desired.  That said, rail and bus frequencies can (and do) increase over time; however what's the bet that joining the hordes of people on the Princes FWY will be the favoured journey to work from Geelong?

Spring Street has already signalled that it intends to hold back the more intensive redevelopment of the Arden precinct until the new metro station opens - it gets to dictate these terms directly in this case as the state government is a major landholder in the area.  In my view, again, this is the correct order of doing things however what of Fishermans Bend?

Despite its purchase of the former GMH site, the state government is not in the same position as Arden when it comes to south of the Yarra - already developments have kicked off in the eastern end around Montague and in this early stage the 109 tram might be able to cope with a small increase in residents and workers, over the medium to long-term it'll be - excusez mon français - a shit fight.

The cat's out of the bag and Melbourne can't do a Williams Landing on a much larger scale in Fishermans Bend, however that doesn't mean the state government shouldn't reprioritise and play catch up so that proper transport for the precinct is provided in the earlier, rather than later stages of this multi-decade redevelopment zone.

A final framework for Fishermans Bend without a clear picture of how heavy rail will work (and perhaps more importantly when it will begin operations) will mean it's dead on arrival.
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Reflections on doing it right: Alphington, Williams Landing and Fishermans Bend

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<h2>Comment</h2>

At first, there was $10 million on the table in the Victorian Budget.  And when it was time for Canberra to hand down its budget, that figure swelled to $30 million.  In short, whatever the final figure will be, a sizeable chunk of dough is to be spent executing a proper feasibility study on a Melbourne Airport Rail Link.

The study will look a number of aspects, most notably what form a high-capacity rail link would take (its corridor, its technology, its transit time etc) and how building and operating it will be funded (via a PPP, government debt, the Federal Government's new National Rail building fund).  This funding aspect seems to be key, not least because the Victorian State Government to date has been reluctant to commit to any airport link project, except during this year's budget time.

Firstly, let's look back at what's already been studied.

In 2013 the <a href="https://static.ptv.vic.gov.au/siteassets/PTV/PTV%20docs/Feasibility-Studies/Melbourne-Airport-Rail-Link-Study-Overview-brochure.pdf">Melbourne Airport Rail Link (MARL) Study</a> was completed.  Its findings primarily focus on corridors - working on the assumption a MARL would be an extension of the existing network (or utilise network-compatible rail equipment).

Here are the corridors that were looked at in the study.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/melair_corridors.png" rel="gallery-all" title="MARL Study (2013) - corridors"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="650" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/melair_corridors.png?itok=l2jbrN3a" title="MARL Study (2013) - corridors" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>MARL Study (2013) - corridors</figcaption></figure>And here's the assessment of each corridor.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/melair_corridors_assessment.png" rel="gallery-all" title="MARL Study (2013) - corridor assessment"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="303" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/melair_corridors_assessment.png?itok=YgV11hLG" title="MARL Study (2013) - corridor assessment" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>MARL Study (2013) - corridor assessment</figcaption></figure>The conclusion from this study is that the Albion East corridor best meets the various criteria each corridor was assessed against.  It is a very safe assumption to make that should a standard heavy-rail / existing rail network compatible solution be chosen, the Albion East corridor will remain top dog.

On Wednesday 31st of May, RMIT's Centre for Urban Research held the latest in its series of Talking Transport seminars which focused on the Melbourne Airport Rail Link.  One of the panellists was John Hearsch from the Rail Futures Institute and he spoke about <a href="http://www.railfutures.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/170409-Airport-brochure-v6.pdf">RFI's proposal</a>. 

RFI's Airtrain proposal &amp; documentation is a subset of its larger InterCity study which aims to completely separate all regional and metropolitan rail traffic over the longer term and while at the conceptual level, it's no doubt going to be a reference point for the new study.

At the seminar John Hearsch also provided greater context for the RFI proposal in that it would likely be a 3 phase implementation, done under a public-private partnership with the first phase being the most capital intensive: building the three tunnels, airport train shuttle maintenance and storage facility over a 4 year planning and 4 year build timeframe.

The transit time of 15 minutes would be made possible through the combination of tunnels and at-grade sections having a track speed (and operational service) in the same realm as the regional lines outside Melbourne: 160kph.

It takes inspiration from the 2013 MARL Study and John Hearsch made particular mention of the connectivity benefits in that from either Melbourne Airport, Sunshine or Southern Cross stations, the RFI proposal railway would be a 1 train change from any rail destination in Victoria.

The other public-domain proposal that the new feasibility study should look at is the <a href="http://www.airshuttleaust.com.au/">Airshuttle Australia express train project</a>.  This is a proposal to use different rail technology on more direct corridors - in the Citylink median or a combination of above the existing Craigieburn rail corridor and the Tullamarine Freeway median north of Essendon.

As it is technology independent and wouldn't directly interface with the existing network, the Metro Tunnel dependency that has been used as an excuse to not talk about the Airport link in any great detail by the State Government - up until this year's budget - is irrelevant.  In fact, both public domain concepts propose operationally separate railways with no dependency on the existing network; in both cases thne real sticking point is narrowing down the costs, potential benefits and how to fund them.

Of course, we shouldn't discount another well-rounded solution to the long-term needs of passengers at the airport and the employees who work within the vicinity of it to come out of this process either.

<h2>The road public transport network should also be a study priority</h2>

As PTUA's president Tony Morton mentioned at the Talking Transport seminar, the rail link should be ambitious and aim to do most of the heavy lifting; it should aspire to carry a high proportion of trips to and from the airport but we musn't also exclude other modes of public transport.

More than one panellist made mention of the 903 Smartbus that connects the airport with the Craigieburn line and going forward this is likely to remain the primary public transport connection for those who live in this area. But what other opportunities are there for a large airport-focused high-frequency bus network to the east of the airport?

Should money be invested in expanding 24-hour bus lanes &amp; bus priority on Broadmeadows Road, Mahoneys Road, Pascoe Vale and Cooper Street? How much would it cost to operate a 15-minute frequency service from places like South Morang, cross-town, through outer north to Broadmeadows and onto the airport? What would patronage be like?

And a shout out for the tram network, the #59 tram terminates at Airport West, just short of the southern airport employment precinct and terminals.  How much would it cost to extend this tram route out to the airport to compliment the bus network to the airport's east and the heavy lifting rail line?

Servicing the areas directly to the east and south-east of the airport should be within the scope of the new study.

<h2>Strategic land-use context</h2>

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZBdK2sX3DFo" width="100%"></iframe>

It's also worth reminding ourselves that there is a significant body of strategic planning work underway in the region, most notably the <a href="https://vpa.vic.gov.au/project/sunshine-employment-cluster/">Sunshine National Employment and Innovation Cluster</a> shown in the video above.  

'All rails lead to Sunshine' when it comes to the metropolitan and regional network in this part of Melbourne - the Ballarat Line has budgeted work coming online soon where the line will be duplicated to Melton in preparation for electrification and the Sunbury line is directly benefiting from the Metro Tunnel project.

It's a combination of this already budgeted for or investment that's underway, minimal property acquisition/re-use of existing surplus land in existing rail corridors, coupled with the Victorian Planning Authority's planning work that makes Sunshine such a potent inclusion to a rail link to the airport.

In short, the promised cash should not be limited to just studying how to get an airport rail link up and running sooner, it should be a holistic airport ground transport plan for the next 50 years.
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Setting the scope for the upcoming $30 million Melbourne Airport Rail Link study

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On Wednesday next week, <a href="http://cur.org.au/">RMIT's Centre for Urban Research</a> is holding its third monthly Talking Transport event: The Melbourne Airport Rail Link, are we there yet?

It is a free, <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-melbourne-airport-rail-link-are-we-there-yet-tickets-34843527930">ticketed event</a>, to be held at RMIT's Building 80 - located at 445 Swanston Street - level 11, room 10 from 6:00 pm.

<blockquote>
<h3>Description</h3>

Recently, the Australian Government pledged $30 million in addition to the Victorian Government's $10 million for the development of a business case for a rail link between Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport and city, much to the delight of many Victorians.

A train between the airport and city may seem like a no-brainer for Melbourne, but are there details that may derail our expectations?

Join us for the third instalment of RMIT Centre for Urban Research’s Talking Transport series where we bring together leading experts from government, academia, industry and the community sector, to explore and identify real solutions for our city’s future mobility.

The panelists will be seeking to address:

<ul>
<li>Should the link be privately or publicly owned?</li>
	<li>How will that affect ticket pricing?</li>
	<li>What route should the link take?</li>
	<li>Should it be part of the Melbourne Metro?</li>
	<li>Should it be built before or after the Metro?</li>
	<li>What mistakes have other cities similar to Melbourne made and how can we avoid it?</li>
	<li>Should the airport rail should be our #1 priority or are there other public transport projects or issues more deserving of immediate attention?</li>
</ul>
Speakers:

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.ptua.org.au/team/tonymorton/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Anthony Morton</a>, President PTUA</li>
	<li>
<a href="http://www.impa.org.au/peoplek/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Marianne Richards</a>, Vice-President Inner Melbourne Planning Alliance</li>
	<li>
<a href="http://www.railfutures.org.au/about-rail-futures/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">John Hearsch</a>, President, Rail Futures Institute</li>
	<li>
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-smelt-327b3242/?ppe=1" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Edward Smelt</a>, Principal Engineer Infrastructure Victoria</li>
</ul>
* More speakers to be announced

Moderator:

<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://cur.org.au/people/professor-michael-buxton/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Michael Buxton</a>, Professor of Environment and Planning RMIT University</li>
</ul>
Date/Time:

Wednesday 31st May, 6:00pm-7:15pm.
</blockquote>

To book a free seat, please see this link on <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-melbourne-airport-rail-link-are-we-there-yet-tickets-34843527930">Eventbrite</a>.

The Centre for Urban Research also streams its events on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RMITCUR/">Facebook live</a>. Shown below are the first two seminars.

April 26th:

<iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="350" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FRMITCUR%2Fvideos%2F1259704960794910%2F&amp;show_text=0&amp;width=560" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" width="100%"></iframe>

March 22nd:

<iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="350" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FRMITCUR%2Fvideos%2F1221957964569610%2F&amp;show_text=0&amp;width=560" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" width="100%"></iframe>
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Event: The Melbourne Airport Rail Link, are we there yet?

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<h2>Comment</h2>

Sub-optimal outcomes, perceived or otherwise, were always going to be included in the wider level crossing removal project, and Buckley Street in Essendon just so happens to be one of them.

In 2015, <a href="/news/essendon-junction-structure-plan-and-buckley-street-grade-separation">Urban.com.au took a look</a> at the Moonee Valley-led council proposal to remove the level crossing at Buckley Street and apply a new structure plan to Essendon.  

To this day, the notion of removing the existing rail-over-road bridge at Mount Alexander Road and sinking the whole rail corridor under both a restored Mount Alexander Road and Buckley street appears to be the best case scenario.

However, if we take a look at it with fresh eyes after seeing the process of rolling out other level crossing removal projects, the gloss starts to wither away.

For starters as one commenter made mention in the original article, the originally predicted price tag of near $200 million would eat away into the overall budget and take funds away from completing another removal project in metro Melbourne.

Disruption would be huge and quite frankly unacceptable - removing an already grade-separated crossing, filling in the void created over a century ago and then digging another wide trench to fit a 3 platform station - is both profligate and would put the Craigieburn (and Seymour) lines out of action for months.  

Absolutely yes, if a rail line were to be taken out action for that amount of time, it would make sense to do other level crossings - Glenroy is also on the list - but budget for doing other local crossings like Park St and Puckle Street/Holmes Road in Moonee Ponds needs to come from somewhere.

The urban outcomes of the council-led plan tick a lot of boxes - better integration between rail and tram services, and they correct the wanton waste of land that is the Essendon station car park by developing on top of it as well as the sunken rail corridor - but it all comes down to disruption and budget.

One sledge against the preferred option for removing the Buckley Street level crossing is that it is a cheap solution.  Which in and of itself is interesting.  The detailed render in the lead image above depicts a far better urban realm than what currently exists at Buckley Street.

Employing Urban Designers does not come cheap and there's clearly been a lot of thought put it into the pedestrian realm.  In fact it's a massive upgrade over the current dominance of a 4 lane road choked with cars - never forget that, a level crossing is always the worst outcome, everything else is always better.

Whether this is an optimal or sub-optimal outcome, the land around Essendon station is changing and the station will solidify itself as the centre of the suburb soon enough - see the list of projects below.
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Give the road under rail grade separation at Buckley Street a chance

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Forever present when there's a large amount of construction happening around the city, recent photographic updates by UM users in the projects &amp; construction threads on the forum have seen a large number of pits highlighted throughout the city.

<h2>Collins Arch - CBD</h2>

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/p5151469_redden.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by redden, originally posted 16/05/2017"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="435" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/p5151469_redden.jpg?itok=AB2U3iMR" title="Image by redden, originally posted 16/05/2017" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by redden, originally posted 16/05/2017</figcaption></figure>See more photos in the <a href="/news">Collins Arch forum thread</a>. 

<h2>Capitol Grand - South Yarra</h2>

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/p5151419_redden.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by redden, originally posted 16/05/2017"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="435" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/p5151419_redden.jpg?itok=bj7dJtge" title="Image by redden, originally posted 16/05/2017" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by redden, originally posted 16/05/2017</figcaption></figure><a href="/news">Capitol Grand forum thread</a>.

<h2><a href="/buildings/premier-tower-134-160-spencer-street-melbourne">Premier Tower - CBD</a></h2>

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/p5151463_redden.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by redden, originally posted 16/05/2017"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="435" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/p5151463_redden.jpg?itok=Jz_5kZCN" title="Image by redden, originally posted 16/05/2017" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by redden, originally posted 16/05/2017</figcaption></figure> 

<a href="/news">Premier Tower forum thread</a>.

The southern edge of the former markets site in Moonee Ponds is now in full swing with the northern edge the last remaining section to see excavation occur.

<h2>Former markets site - Moonee Ponds</h2>

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/img_9469_0_mb.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 12/05/2017"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="870" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/img_9469_0_mb.jpg?itok=8Hmp38Br" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 12/05/2017" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 12/05/2017</figcaption></figure> 

<a href="/news">Moonee Ponds forum thread</a>.

The cluster of CBD top-end talls also continues to feature heavily on the forum, including Victoria One whose floorplates are still playing catch up with the core box. 

<h2>Victoria One - CBD</h2>

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/img_0083_mb.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 12/05/2017"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="870" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/img_0083_mb.jpg?itok=mgCLnRUD" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 12/05/2017" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 12/05/2017</figcaption></figure> 

<a href="/news">Victoria One forum thread</a>.

Victoria One's next-door neighbour, Light House Melbourne, gets a lot of attention now that it is externally complete.

<h2>Light House Melbourne - CBD</h2>

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/img_0245.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 17/05/2017"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="870" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/img_0245.jpg?itok=xTMYSR4R" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 17/05/2017" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 17/05/2017</figcaption></figure> 

<a href="/news">Light House Melbourne forum thread</a>.

Australia 108 continues its march through the slower-to-build podium levels.

<h2>Australia 108 - Southbank</h2>

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/6670d0d6effb0d46ce79a60408dc42ce.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 10/05/2017"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="387" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/6670d0d6effb0d46ce79a60408dc42ce.jpg?itok=bJQfNWpT" title="Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 10/05/2017" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 10/05/2017</figcaption></figure><a href="/news">Australia 108 forum thread</a>.

<h2>Empire Melbourne - CBD</h2>

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/img_9568.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 17/05/2017"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="870" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/img_9568.jpg?itok=baMQfiTy" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 17/05/2017" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 09/05/2017</figcaption></figure>Click here to see the most recent article in this series: <a href="/news/the-state-of-construction-in-melbourne-mid-april-2017">The state of construction in Melbourne: </a><a href="https://urban.melbourne/development/2017/04/19/state-construction-melbourne-mid-april-2017">mid April</a>.
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The state of construction in Melbourne - mid May 

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Calling all developers interested in affordable housing, the University of Melbourne's Transforming Housing network is set to host the Transforming Housing in 2017 Summit on Friday 2nd June.

The summit organisers would particularly like to hear from developers who have a genuine interest in delivering affordable and social housing. Please use the form below to register your interest.

<h2>About the summit</h2>

<blockquote>
The event, hosted by the University of Melbourne’s Transforming Housing network, will bring together 60 stakeholders from the affordable housing sector including researchers; state government; local government; private developers; the investment community; and not-for-profit housing associations. It will be an opportunity to contribute to current housing debates, create solutions to pressing housing problems and network with others who have a genuine interest in supporting, funding, designing and delivering affordable and social housing for very low to moderate-income households.

Given the changes to tax incentives, access to land, and opportunities for funding related to affordable housing announced in this week’s Federal Budget and the Homes for Victorians strategy, this is an opportunity for interested developers to build both their knowledge and networks in Victoria.

If you wish to be part of the conversation, we invite you to register your interest by contacting Sarah Backhouse using the form below and by briefly stating why you’re interested in participating. As this event is capped at 60 participants, we cannot promise that all registrants will be able to attend, so early registration is encouraged.
<cite>University of Melbourne Transforming Housing network, summit invitation</cite>
</blockquote>

<h2>Event details</h2>

<dl>
<dt>Date</dt>
 <dd>Friday 2nd June</dd>
	<dt>Time</dt>
	<dd>9:00am - 4:30pm, followed by networking drinks</dd>
	<dt>Location</dt>
	<dd>10th floor, Melbourne Law (Building 106), 185 Pelham Street, Carlton VIC 3053</dd>
	<dt>Website</dt>
	<dd>https://msd.unimelb.edu.au/events/the-housing-summit-transforming-housing-in-2017</dd>
</dl>
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Event: Transforming Housing in 2017 Summit

Around 400 additional homes could be built at Southwark Grounds on Port Road, lifting total site capacity from 1300 to around 1700 dwellings.

A recently approved code amendment would allow apartment towers of up to 14 storeys in some areas of Renewal SA’s redevelopment of the former West End Brewery.

Renewal SA Acting Chief Executive Shane Wingard said he welcomed the code amendment, with the increase in heights and homes making a positive impact on the supply of high-quality, well-connected housing close to the city.

“By going higher across some parts of Southwark Grounds, we are adding a substantial number of very well-located homes with little impact on project delivery time or planned open space,” Mr Wingard said.

Since the project officially launched in 2025, Mr Wingard said more than 12,000 enquiries had been received about living at Southwark Grounds.

“The very strong early interest we’ve seen since homes were first released in the precinct reinforces our plans to create more housing opportunities,” he said.

The Southwark Grounds code amendment was launched in December last year, with community engagement undertaken over five weeks from January.

It proposed increasing maximum building heights from eight to 14 storeys on the eastern section of Southwark Grounds, and to 12 storeys across the remainder of the site, with minimum building heights ranging from two to four storeys.

The code amendment was implemented through an Early Commencement policy in late January, allowing developers to quickly explore the viability of increased height and housing yield while other planning processes continue.

One of the first developers delivering apartment sites have already finalised redesigns to increase the number of apartments following the code amendment.

Samaras’ development adjacent to the future Colonel Light Park is now planning to deliver 125 apartments across 11 storeys, significantly greater than original plans of around 50 apartments across four storeys.

The developer is also exploring the potential for additional affordable housing outcomes.

Most of the apartments at Southwark Grounds will be delivered within a master-planned precinct on a large parcel of land on the eastern portion of the site, covering around two-thirds of its 8.4 hectares.

Wingard said detailed precinct planning over the coming months may identify further opportunities to increase yield further that could see total apartment numbers at Southwark Grounds, exceed this number.

Affordable homes at Southwark Grounds will also see a net increase, with Renewal SA maintaining its commitment to a minimum of 20 per cent affordable housing across the development.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Civil works have begun across the site, with construction under way on the first new roads surrounding a townhouse precinct in the south‑west corner of Southwark Grounds. This includes Renewal SA’s 17 Founder’s Row homes, which are on track for completion by Christmas.

“We expect to have people living at Southwark Grounds by the end of the year, so delivering roads and public spaces for those residents is among our highest priorities.”

Construction of 40 townhouses off Anderson Street, known as West Village and being delivered by Contour, is forecast to begin in mid‑2026. Kolabb’s Anderson Lane development will follow shortly after, delivering a further 26 townhouses.

Southwark Grounds is a state government‑led urban renewal project now set to deliver around 1,700 homes over the next decade.

Homes will be supported by a supermarket, a range of retail and hospitality offerings anchored by a revitalised Walkerville Brew Tower, a childcare centre, car parking and well‑connected public spaces.

Joel Robinson

400 new homes planned for Adelaide's former West End Brewery site

Brisbane developer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/cavcorp">Cavcorp</a> has lodged plans for a new mixed-use residential development at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/55-wyandra-street-teneriffe-qld-4005">55 Wyandra Street</a>, Teneriffe, anchored by an 85-metre public laneway designed to reconnect the suburb’s riverfront with the Gasworks precinct.

The buildings, known as Teneriffe House and Teneriffe Lane, would replace the existing Queensland Cotton head office site with a 15-storey residential tower transitioning to eight storeys toward Helen Street. The project has been designed by Plazibat Architects and lodged as a code assessable development application for 93 apartments across a 3,401 sqm mixed-use site within the Newstead and Teneriffe Waterfront neighbourhood plan.

Central to the scheme is the transformation of an existing service easement into a publicly accessible cross-block connection linking Wyandra and Helen Streets. Cavcorp says the new laneway will act as both a pedestrian shortcut and a landscaped civic space between the Teneriffe Riverwalk, ferry terminal, and Gasworks precinct.

<img alt="First Look: Cavcorp unveils Teneriffe House and Teneriffe Lane plans for landmark wellness tower in Teneriffe" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="26e7f058-b065-4de8-b13d-a2b8cb64dfcc" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/bldg.png?VersionId=sELS0ZKYi361oYipUa1BIKfe_.DLZoFV" />

“The revised proposal delivers a legacy public-realm cross-block link, permanently secured for community use, transforming an existing private easement into a safe, high-quality pedestrian connection between the Teneriffe heritage riverwalk and the Gasworks–Long Island precinct,” the planning report states.

The laneway will sit beneath a large subtropical loggia integrated into the podium levels of the development. The design incorporates deep landscaping, water gardens, lobby spaces, business lounges, and ground-floor apartments to create what Cavcorp describes as a climate-responsive “urban verandah.”

The tower itself has been designed as a slender form with recessed floorplates and curved translucent corners inspired by contemporary Japanese architecture. The building height aligns with the Commercial Road precinct controls, which permit towers up to 15 storeys within proximity to Longland Street.

<img alt="First Look: Cavcorp unveils Teneriffe House and Teneriffe Lane plans for landmark wellness tower in Teneriffe" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a8a17d40-43b6-4718-b3fd-67676fcbb485" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/pers%202_1.png?VersionId=i3VwDtp5AmL_8InW7w4qRbDFEpb744Jt" />

The project will comprise a mix of larger-format apartments aimed at owner-occupiers, downsizers, and families. The proposed apartment mix includes 11 loggia apartments across the lower levels, 50 four-bedroom Sky-Terrace apartments from levels three to seven, and 32 Sky-Pool Homes occupying the upper tower levels. The Sky-Pool Homes will feature private thermal plunge pools integrated into oversized balconies.

According to the application, the apartments are intended to reinterpret the scale and character of Teneriffe’s woolstore conversions and Queensland homes within a vertical residential format.

“The sky-pool homes build on Cavcorp’s previous projects and introduce a distinct apartment typology to Teneriffe, informed by both local and international precedent and responding to an identified market demand for enhanced safety, space and amenity,” the planning submission notes.

A major focus of the proposal is its five-level wellness and lifestyle offering, extending from the basement through to the rooftop.

Amenities proposed include a rooftop Swim &amp; Racquet Club with a 25-metre Olympic lap pool and tennis court, coworking spaces and libraries, golf simulators, wine storage, concierge facilities, business lounges, pet wash areas, and rooftop longevity-focused wellness spaces with spas, outdoor fitness zones, and landscaped terraces.

<img alt="First Look: Cavcorp unveils Teneriffe House and Teneriffe Lane plans for landmark wellness tower in Teneriffe" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="944b352c-49b9-4247-a4c6-5967b4b69fda" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/amenity.png?VersionId=Ed_qKjAtMwFT.5gfl3jiA9QwdWxSMsaX" />

All parking will be concealed within basement levels accessed from Wyandra and Helen Streets. Cavcorp says the deep-basement engineering approach allows the entire ground plane to prioritise landscaping, pedestrian movement, and active frontage rather than vehicle infrastructure.

The development continues Cavcorp’s concentration in Newstead and Teneriffe, where the Brisbane developer has delivered a number of apartment projects including Lucent, Le Bain, and Luminare, as well as the Long Island Wellness Precinct nearby. Several of those projects have received national design and architecture awards, including recognition under Brisbane’s “Buildings that Breathe” program.

Cavcorp unveils wellness-focused Teneriffe House and Teneriffe Lane apartment buildings

Focus Group Investments has lodged plans for a new apartment development at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/64-70-hanover-street-fitzroy-vic-3065">64–70 Hanover Street</a> in Fitzroy, seeking to utilise the Victorian Government’s recently introduced Great Design Fast Track pathway to accelerate approvals for the project.

The proposal is among the latest developments to emerge through the state-led initiative, which was established to fast-track well-designed residential projects in activity centres and transport-connected inner-city locations. The pathway allows qualifying developments that meet elevated design and housing benchmarks to bypass traditional council planning timeframes and instead be assessed directly by the Department of Transport and Planning.

Designed by SJB, the development will comprise a mix of apartments above activated lower levels, with a strong focus on architectural articulation, landscaping, and communal amenity. The design response seeks to balance the industrial character of Richmond’s former warehouse precincts with a more contemporary residential form.

<img alt="First look: Focus Group Investments taps Victoria’s Great Design Fast Track for Richmond apartments" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="abea51cc-d85b-479e-9aef-a589f3b37ca7" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/ground.png?VersionId=e1Kf8EyPWwyiVumtqQ4rM5S4GpOR3CCz" />

Proposed are 63 new dwellings, a wide ranging mix of studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, and townhouses and duplexes. They will be spread across a part-three, part-eight storey building.

The Planning and Urban Context Report by Tract says the development is of an "exemplary architectural standard" and has been carefully crafted by SJB Architects.

"Dwellings&nbsp;will benefit from excellent access to natural light, cross-ventilation opportunities and extensive communal space," the report noted.

The architectural material highlights the project’s integration of landscaped elements and communal spaces throughout the building. The proposal also incorporates sustainability initiatives aligned with the Victorian Government’s push for higher-performing apartment developments under the fast-track program.

The Great Design Fast Track was unveiled by the Victorian Government in 2024 as part of a broader housing supply strategy aimed at accelerating the delivery of new homes. Projects assessed through the pathway must demonstrate high-quality architecture, sustainability outcomes, and housing diversity while being located close to public transport and existing infrastructure.

<img alt="First look: Focus Group Investments taps Victoria’s Great Design Fast Track for Richmond apartments" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="afdbe834-8dc4-4a77-a943-ba07bc927348" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/site_11.png?VersionId=0J657j.TaChAZfp93wqJYBTqSsnREJx2" />

Focus Group, founder and led by Paul De Lutiis, is increasingly active across Melbourne’s inner suburbs, targeting well-connected urban renewal locations suited to medium and higher-density residential development. The Fitzroy proposal continues that strategy, leveraging the area’s strong transport links, established retail amenity, and proximity to the CBD.

Fitzroy has been one of the most popular spots for developers and buyers in recent years. The likes of PACE Development Group, SMA Projects, Crema Group and Chapter Group, currently selling projects in the suburb.

First look: Focus Group Investments taps Victoria’s Great Design Fast Track for Fitzroy apartments

The Gold Coast Planning Committee has supported the preliminary approval for the Benowa Gardens Urban Village project following an extensive community consultation and assessment process.

The proposal will now proceed to a full council vote on June 2.

The application sought approval for a masterplanned urban village on the existing Benowa Gardens Shopping Centre site, combining new housing, retail, dining, health and lifestyle amenities within a walkable, integrated precinct.&nbsp;

The proposed redevelopment includes around 413 apartments integrated above a revitalised mixed-use centre featuring a full-line supermarket of 4,000 sqm, 6,000 sqm of specialty retail and dining space across around 30 retailers, a 7,000 sqm health and wellness precinct, and roughly 9,630 sqm of office and medical suites.&nbsp;

<img alt="$1b Benowa Gardens Urban Village moves to Full Council following Planning Committee support" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="fb36ae47-80bc-45f0-9914-31b0c7b6007d" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/PR26576%20Ashmore%20Road%20C4%201121%20FI.jpg?VersionId=6mRKk2uU4r67TmTt39DKGUlvFRbTVqWa" />

The broader masterplan also includes very significant traffic and transport improvements, wide pedestrian walkways, upgraded pedestrian and cycle connections, and enhanced public areas designed to create a more connected and walkable community environment.&nbsp;

Centre owner Patrick Lu said the milestone reflected months of detailed planning, technical assessment and ongoing communication with local residents, businesses, schools and stakeholders.

“We appreciate the time, consideration and care Council officers and the Planning Committee have given this proposal throughout the assessment process,” Lu said.

“We also sincerely thank the local community for engaging with us, sharing feedback and participating in the consultation process over many months.

<img alt="$1b Benowa Gardens Urban Village moves to Full Council following Planning Committee support" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="32fd1fc3-d0e6-485f-ac57-9916c9bcb818" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/PR26576%20Ashmore%20Road%20C5%201121%20FI_2.jpg?VersionId=fz8qQKDBLQ7MyFRc856Zccfbh9nFwLOe" />

“We understand projects of this scale bring questions and concerns, which is why we have worked hard to listen carefully, provide information transparently and continue refining elements of the proposal where possible.

“Our vision has always been to create a well-designed, community-focused urban village that responds to the changing needs of the Gold Coast, while delivering improved amenity, housing diversity, healthcare access and local lifestyle benefits.

“This proposal is about creating a genuine live-work-play environment where residents can access everyday services, schools, healthcare, dining, shopping and green space within walking distance, while also supporting local jobs and economic activity.”

<img alt="$1b Benowa Gardens Urban Village moves to Full Council following Planning Committee support" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="50dfbd04-590e-4fc6-983b-766880947867" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Dining%20Day%20Time%20-%20High%20Resolution.jpg?VersionId=BP7ZoKJ0DdL_8iRkkC8VVx99moICV6kg" />

Lu said the proposal had evolved significantly through consultation and technical review, particularly around traffic, pedestrian and student safety and neighbourhood connectivity.&nbsp;

Melissa Griffin, Director at Urbis, said the recommendation recognised the strategic importance of delivering more housing and services within established urban areas already supported by infrastructure.

“This proposal represents the type of thoughtful, integrated growth that planning frameworks across South-East Queensland are encouraging,” Ms Griffin said.

“The project seeks to place housing, retail, healthcare and employment opportunities together in a highly accessible location close to schools, transport and existing services.

“Importantly, the process has involved significant technical assessment and community engagement to ensure local issues and feedback were properly considered throughout the planning pathway.”

$1 billion Benowa Gardens Urban Village heads to council vote following Planning Committee support

Surfers Paradise is officially set for its first new residential development with a 45-storey skybridge connecting the two towers.

John Camilleri’s Celestino Developments has been given the green light by the Gold Coast City Council to develop its major beachfront precinct across its huge 4,000 sqm oceanfront site at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/63-79-garfield-terrace-surfers-paradise-qld-4217">63–79 Garfield Terrace</a>, just five months after its <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/qld/first-look-exclusive-billionaire-winx-breeder-s-bold-two-tower-surfers-paradise-play-with-45th-storey-skybridge">submission in late 2025</a>.

The approved scheme will deliver two towers rising 55 and 48 storeys, connected by a skybridge positioned on level 45 that will house a range of resident-only wellness and entertainment spaces.

In its notice of approval, the Gold Coast City Council said the&nbsp;proposed overall built form has been designed to complement the scale, intensity and protect the adjacent amenity and surrounding streets through the use of varied setbacks, site cover and architectural elements.

<img alt="First look exclusive: Billionaire Winx breeder’s bold two-tower Surfers Paradise play with 45th-storey skybridge" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/f_auto,c_limit,w_1440,q_75/https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/field/image/Screenshot%202025-12-30%20at%209.53.48%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=ADyPJ_TFbJvSU9wZFOiCBnlPtgF7VWqW" />

Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/dbi">DBI</a>, the development will comprise 275 apartments across the two towers, including a mix of two-, three-, and four-bedroom residences, as well as several penthouses. The apartments will sit above a landscaped podium featuring more than 90 metres of beachfront pool frontage, private resident lawns, lounges, and wellness spaces.

DBI said the design draws heavily from the movement and form of the coastal environment, with curving balcony lines and sculpted façades intended to soften the scale of the towers while maximising ocean outlooks and passive shading outcomes.

“The project occupies a rare, uninterrupted oceanfront site and has been shaped by a design philosophy that merges architectural elegance with environmental responsiveness and a carefully curated lifestyle experience,” DBI said in planning documents submitted to the Gold Coast City Council.

The most distinctive element of the approved project is the skybridge linking the two towers at level 45. The elevated communal space is planned to include executive lounges, formal dining areas, wellness facilities, and panoramic ocean-facing outlooks.

“The skybridge enhances the identity of the development, promotes social interaction, and delivers a lifestyle experience not found elsewhere on the Gold Coast,” DBI said.

At podium level, residents will have access to a suite of resort-style amenities, including resident lounges, private dining rooms, a yoga lawn, gymnasium, plunge pools, and treatment spaces. The beachfront pool has been designed with separate lap, lounge, and children’s areas extending across the width of the site.

The project will also introduce new food and beverage offerings along the Enderley Avenue and Oceanway frontages, contributing additional activation to the beachfront precinct.

Alastair Taylor

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