The history behind the Malvern Collective apartments

It was 2017 when prominent developer Kokoda Property swooped on what was an amalgamation of old brick buildings and warehouses.

Before they even purchased the site, which had been their largest acquisition in their 18-year history at that point, they knew the importance of what they were going to develop, and the impact it would have on the local community.

Kokoda appointed heritage consultant Lovell Chen early in the peace to work out exactly how they could keep the grandeur of the vast 4,720 sqm site. Some elements of what was on the vast development opportunity were almost as old as the suburb itself.

It was banker and pastoralist John Gardiner, among others, who settled Malvern back in 1835. The land was named Malvern by barrister and land developer Charles Skinner, after his ancestral home, Malvern Hills, in England.

Read more: "It will be a landmark for generations to come"; How Jackson Clements Burrows designed Malvern Collective

What was once known as the Gardiner Hotel was developed on the site some time before 1856. It was altered in the 1880s, and then in 1925 it was extensively remodelled to create the interwar Free Classical style façade which remains today.

Back in the 1860s, the licensee of the Gardiner Hotel was well-known Melbourne cricketer, William Greaves, who, as an added attraction or the hotel, built what is believed to be the first bowling green in Victoria.

Also on the site is Station Place. A collection of Victorian-era shops which were located at the gateway to Station Place, once the home of grocer and merchants Lindsay Bros.

In the late nineteenth century, Dandenong Road consisted mainly of residential buildings, with Station Place providing access for people between the street and Malvern Station.

"We’re really pleased to see this being reactivated aspart of Malvern Collective," Lovell Chen Senior Associate John Statham says.

When Kokoda secured the site, only the former Railway Hotel, now known as the Angel Tavern, and two Victorian-era shops on Station Place, survived from the earliest period of development on the corner site.

Statham says the style of the shops would be described as ‘polychrome Italianate’.

"Polychrome refers to the multi-coloured bricks used to create the decorative patterns around the windows and doors. Italianate refers to the revival of an Italian Renaissance style which was popular in the late nineteenth century."

The shops have been restored, and will form part of the buzzing hospitality precinct Kokoda have put together. They've called the project a 0-minute neighbourhood, given the extensive amenity at the foot of two strikingly modern residential towers and its proximity to Malvern Station.

Read more: How Kokoda is creating a 0-minute neighbourhood at The Malvern Collective

Under construction with completion slated for early 2024, Malvern Collective comprises 205 apartments with interiors by Carr. 

Residents of Malvern Collective will have private access to a co-working space, a cinema, a swimming pool, a wellness centre with hot and cold plunge pools, and a private dining area, bookable through the residents' app.

Using the app, residents can order a coffee from their room and pick it up before jumping on the train, or have the concierge make dinner reservations, not only for the hospitality in Malvern Collective, but anywhere in Melbourne.