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.

First look: Winx billionaire’s beachfront Surfers Paradise apartment development greenlit

Construction

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Little Lonsdale Street wouldn't immediately be considered Melbourne's most glamorous thoroughfare, but for the time being at least the street which spans the length of the CBD is attracting more than its fair share of high-end development and construction value.

Billions of dollars in fact, as seven major projects at various stages of construction are gradually changing the feel and composition of Little Lonsdale Street. The majority of these builds gained approval under previous planning regulations, turning Little Lonsdale Street into somewhat of a showcase of previous planning attitudes. 

Nonetheless construction marches on, with two vastly different projects currently bookending Little Lonsdale Street, and both under the guidance of Probuild.

<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/image22_12.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Progress across Australian Unity and West Side Place"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="234" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image22_12.jpg?itok=FbLDfwor" title="Progress across Australian Unity and West Side Place" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Progress across Australian Unity and West Side Place</figcaption></figure>Intersecting Spring Street and Little Lonsdale, ISPT and Probuild are delivering 271 Spring Street, a $150 million mixed-use tower on the edge of the CBD. The 16-storey building has been designed by John Wardle Architects and will become the new headquarters for Australian Unity, which has agreed to a 15-year term over the entire 15,600sqm build. 

Conversely Probuild are also moving on the first stage of West Side Place at the opposite end of the city. In time the builder will deliver the first stage of the project, involving thousands of apartments and a Ritz-Carlton hotel.

At 81 and 64 levels, both towers will comfortably surpass the 200m mark, with the first phase of West Side Place scheduled for completion in 2022.

<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/image25_10.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Union Tower and 399 Little Lonsdale in view, along with the rear of 380 Lonsdale"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="326" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image25_10.jpg?itok=0SfWGDLF" title="Union Tower and 399 Little Lonsdale in view, along with the rear of 380 Lonsdale" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Union Tower and 399 Little Lonsdale in view, along with the rear of 380 Lonsdale</figcaption></figure>A trio of builds are most definitely changing the feel of Little Lonsdale Street west of Elizabeth Street.

Union Tower and 399 Little Lonsdale Street deliver sheer vertical facades from street level spanning the best part of 40 levels, whilst demolition is progressing rapidly on <a href="/buildings/380-melbourne-380-lonsdale-street-melbourne">380 Lonsdale Street</a>. The rear of Brady Group's massive tower will stretch the best part of 220 metres above Little Lonsdale Street whilst the adjoining Timothy Lane will be extended to provide a typical Melbourne laneway outcome.

Close to 1,000 apartments and hundreds of new hotel suites are being constructed across this tightly spaced trio. Crema Constructions is accounting for 399 Little Lonsdale, Watpac is handling the $47 million build that is Union Tower whilst Brady Group will handle 380 Lonsdale internally via Brady Constructions.

<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/image29_12.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Union Tower and the Little Lonsdale Street frontage for Brady's 380 Lonsdale"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="431" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image29_12.jpg?itok=QO4jd7e0" title="Union Tower and the Little Lonsdale Street frontage for Brady's 380 Lonsdale" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Union Tower and the Little Lonsdale Street frontage for Brady's 380 Lonsdale</figcaption></figure>As <a href="/news/wesley-place-begins-construction-as-com-planners-endorse-stage-two-of-the-project">outlined last week</a>, Wesley Place has begun construction with the initial tower and future commercial building both fronting Little Lonsdale Street. A sizeable landscaped courtyard will also spill onto Little Lonsdale Street, providing further permeability to Lonsdale Street and surrounding areas.

Flying under the radar and adjoining Wesley Place is Brady Group's commencement of 109-111 Little Lonsdale Street. A Peddle Thorp-designed tower will soon rise onsite, with the likelihood that it will become the CBD's second Brady Hotel outlet.

The pocket-sized tower will abut Regency Towers and is expected to rise 21 levels.

<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_2260.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="109-111 Little Lonsdale Street will become reality"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="365" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/img_2260.jpg?itok=L1w4v7xX" title="109-111 Little Lonsdale Street will become reality" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>109-111 Little Lonsdale Street will become reality</figcaption></figure>Whilst the current crop of projects settling upon Little Lonsdale Street number seven, a similar number of projects are in the pipeline.

<a href="/buildings/aspire-melbourne-301-king-st-melbourne">299 King Street</a>, a future tower at Upper West Side and <a href="/developments/melbourne-vic-3000">Victoria University's vertical campus</a> will all have frontage to Little Lonsdale Street, with VU Tower likely to reach construction first. The much hyped <a href="/new-apartments/crystal-gardens-276-russell-street-melbourne">Crystal Gardens</a> tower though remains somewhat of an enigma, whilst Brady Group continues to plot future towers along Little Lonsdale Street.

272-282 Queen Street and 278 Little Lonsdale Street are on the developer's books, with the latter gaining approval via VCAT for a 32 level tower spanning 105 metres earlier this year.

On its curent construction trajectory awathes of Little Lonsdale Street will be barely recognisable in a short few years time.
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silvermb

Little Lonsdale big on construction

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What was appearing across Melbourne's skyline a decade ago?

There certainly wasn't the stupendous number of high-rise towers or low-rise apartment apartment buildings at construction relative to today, but nonetheless a robust construction sector was churning out a respectable number of new and interesting projects.

See below a retrospective construction overview at this corresponding period a decade ago.

<h2><a href="/new-apartments/docklands-vic-3008">Docklands</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/image110y.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Docklands was a hive of construction activity, and still is"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="289" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image110y.jpg?itok=A6T7C5Nh" title="Docklands was a hive of construction activity, and still is" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Docklands was a hive of construction activity, and still is.</figcaption></figure>The then National Foods had its new headquarters taking shape at 737 Bourke Street whilst AXA Australia's adjoining campus-style development at 750 Collins Street was nearing construction completion. It's fair to say that upon completion neither were aesthetically astonishing buildings.

Victoria Harbour also kept construction rolling in the latter stages of 2007; the most notable build was ANZ's new global headquarters at 833 Collins Street. In a nice piece of symmetry their new tower adjoining 833 Collins Street is at roughly the same level of construction a decade later.

Digital Harbour was also tasting construction with then contractor Baulderstone working on the modest Life.Lab building. It feels like preciously little has occurred within Digital Harbour since.

<h2><a href="/new-apartments/melbourne-vic">Inner city</a></h2>

Some key projects were on the go in inner Melbourne during late 2007, and none were more noteworthy than the expansion of 'Jeff's Shed.' Once more, a decade later and another expansion of the complex is in progress.

<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/image310y.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="The MECC expansion during 2007"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="219" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image310y.jpg?itok=cOXAc-NY" title="The MECC expansion during 2007" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>The MECC expansion during 2007.</figcaption></figure>Neo 200 was nearing construction completion, thus taking its place as one of the CBD's early residential towers; how residential living through the CBD has flourished since. <a href="/builders/multiplex">Multiplex</a> was pushing through with the dual-towered commercial-oriented CBW development fronting Bourke and William, with 79,500sqm on its way to being delivered.

<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/stc_20070908.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="A sought after Melbourne address in the making"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="436" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/stc_20070908.jpg?itok=d-Y5iCp_" title="A sought after Melbourne address in the making" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>A sought after Melbourne address in the making.</figcaption></figure><a href="/developers/salta-properties">Salta</a> was also working on what would become one of Melbourne's most sought after addresses, namely 150 Clarendon Street in <a href="/new-apartments/east-melbourne-vic-3002">East Melbourne</a>.

<h2>A St Kilda Road marvel</h2>

The curves that made Balencia an eventual award-winning design were nowhere to be seen during 2007; the <a href="/developers/sunland-group">Sunland Group</a>/<a href="/developers/pellicano-group">Pellicano Group</a> joint venture's core was barely above ground.

In time it too would become one of Melbourne's most sought after addresses. Post its completion, Balencia would go on to win awards such as The Australian Institute of Architects Frederick Romberg Award for Residential Architecture - Multiple Housing for the year 2009.

<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/image710y.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Construction and the finished product. Image: RealestateVIEW"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="228" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image710y.jpg?itok=425jlSzZ" title="Construction and the finished product. Image: RealestateVIEW" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Construction and the finished product. Image: RealestateVIEW.</figcaption></figure><h2>
<a href="/new-apartments/south-yarra-vic-3141">South Yarra</a> in vogue</h2>

Much can change in a decade in South Yarra. After a period of inactivity, 2007 witnessed works begin in earnest on South Yarra's premier development site. 

It would become Vogue South Yarra, the suburb's tallest, and it still remains so. That mantle though will in time go to <a href="/buildings/capitol-grand-241-toorak-road-south-yarra">Capitol Grand</a> which is on its way to becoming suburban Melbourne's tallest at 50 levels and 178 metres.

<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/image1010y.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Vogue and a render of its successor, Capitoal Grand. Images: Buchan Group and Multiplex"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="329" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image1010y.jpg?itok=LOvZUsQ7" title="Vogue and a render of its successor, Capitoal Grand. Images: Buchan Group and Multiplex" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Vogue and a render of its successor, Capitoal Grand. Images: Buchan Group and Multiplex.</figcaption></figure><h2>Greater Melbourne</h2>

A building that would become a contender for the worst in Melbourne for both design and construction longevity began its move upward during late 2007. <a href="/new-apartments/brunswick-vic-3056">Brunswick's</a> 108 Union Street is abysmal in just about every way and speaks of a period where design sophistication was not what it is now.

<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/image1410y.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="U108 began in earnest during 2007. Image: RealestateVIEW"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="200" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image1410y.jpg?itok=5R9cmdZU" title="U108 began in earnest during 2007. Image: RealestateVIEW" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>U108 began in earnest during 2007. Image: RealestateVIEW.</figcaption></figure>Doncaster Hill's Westfield was in the midst of a truly massive construction programme, with only Eastland's expansion matching the project for sheer size in the past decade. Nearby in <a href="/new-apartments/box-hill-vic-3128">Box Hill</a> and the Eastern Health building was tasting low-rise expansion; in a sign of how rapidly the design and planning landscape has changed, Epworth Eastern is now pushing for high-rise tower in close proximity to the Eastern Health building.

Closer to the city and The Well in <a href="/new-apartments/camberwell-vic-3124">Camberwell</a> was at construction. A decade on and the mixed-use development still remains one of the few major projects to be built in the suburb, with Aerial Camberwell being the obvious exception.

<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/wdx_20070913.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="But a few of the cranes utilised on Westfield Doncaster"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="412" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/wdx_20070913.jpg?itok=15blZsLu" title="But a few of the cranes utilised on Westfield Doncaster" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>But a few of the cranes utilised on Westfield Doncaster during 2007.</figcaption></figure>
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Melbourne under construction - a decade ago

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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82317/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">
GUEST OBSERVER
Any downturn in the construction industry could trigger job losses to a range of sectors that support the building industry, such as planning, project management, real estate and property services. This threat reveals the risk of relying on building and construction to sustain the economy. 
Since before the global financial crisis, urban economies across the world have relied increasingly on the construction of housing, especially high rise urban apartments, to maintain economic activity. 
Construction has boomed in Australia, especially in Melbourne and Sydney. Migration from overseas and interstate, as well as international student numbers, have so far maintained sufficient demand for city apartments and suburban houses to keep the building boom going.
Nationally the number of jobs in construction has increased from 927,000 in May 2007 to 1,110,400 in May 2017, an increase of 183,400 jobs. Even now, the federal government expects that construction employment will increase by 10.9% in the five years to 2022. 
But this view is at odds with new data. A recent report by advisory firm BIS Oxford predicts that new dwellings construction will fall by 31%, from 230,000 to 160,000 dwellings in Australia, in the next three years. This prediction foreshadows a dramatic decline in construction employment. 
The other jobs construction creates
Construction activity creates employment across the economy. There are jobs in industries that provide input building materials – such as local quarries and forests, sawmills, concrete products manufacturers, steel makers and glass, plastic and metal products manufacturers. There are also jobs created for people working in import firms bringing in materials that might not be made locally, as well as for people who work to store materials and transport them from ports and factories to building sites. Construction generates jobs for people involved in the design and planning of buildings, also those involved in the financing and contracting of construction projects. 
Once the buildings exist, construction creates more jobs in marketing the properties, building inspections, buyers agents, mortgage brokers, real estate agents and the like. After the sale, more jobs are sustained in interior designer, selling furnishings and fittings and appliances, and providing internet connections and utilities. 
The wages earned and taxes paid by these workers then create jobs in other services industries. This includes everything from dentists and personal trainers to bank tellers and public servants. New populations create new demand for supermarkets and schools and hospitals that employ more people. 
The secondary circuit of capital
Following the ideas of French urban theorist Henri Lefebvre, geographer David Harvey famously explained a process called the “second circuit of capital” where building replaces manufacturing as the driver of growth. This secondary circuit soaks up the excess capital sloshing around the world that can’t be invested profitably in the primary circuit of (manufacturing) production. Buildings are built for the purpose of generating profits for developers and investors. 
In places like Melbourne, the secondary circuit has created so many jobs in construction and related industries, that these have become the key drivers of growth. All these jobs are at risk when construction activity stalls. 
David Harvey’s crucial insight was that once economies rely on construction to drive employment, then the entire economy becomes like a giant Ponzi scheme. The only way that employment in a host city can be maintained is to keep building more buildings. 
Harvey argues the principle purpose of building is to generate profit, which means that the building will stop if there are insufficient numbers of buyers, or insufficient buyers willing to pay a price that will generate profit.
If the developers can elect to build elsewhere, in places where returns are higher, the local construction-led system can collapse like a house of cards. The resulting crisis would not be confined to the construction sector but would resonate through all the activities contributing to building or benefiting from the taxes and charges generated by building. 
That pretty much means everybody. Once the cards fall over, not only do employment opportunities decline, but so do property values, as prices adjust to the new reality. 
Some economists recommend creating new infrastructure projects to provide work, to keep the construction sector and material suppliers in business. But they rarely consider the second order effects as the downturn in construction filters through the economy. Most economists would argue that dealing with these secondary effects is best left to market forces. 
This means that as the downturn filters through the economy, jobs will be lost quietly across a range of sectors. The sectors most obviously vulnerable in the event of a downturn in residential building activity will be those that rely on discretionary building-related spending – such as furniture and effects retailing, wholesaling and manufacturing. The impacts on affected households will be no less devastating than for direct building jobs.
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sally-weller-116519" target="_blank">Sally Weller</a> is Visiting Fellow, Australian Catholic University and author for <a href="https://theconversation.com/au" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.
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jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

The hollow promise of construction-led jobs and growth

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There was another upbeat result for building approvals in the month of July 2017, with a shade under 18,300 dwellings approved in the private sector.
From a year ago private sector attached dwelling approvals are some 30 per cent lower, leading total approvals to be off by 14 per cent year-on-year.
Approvals are evidently well down from the peak, especially for high-rise apartments as we shall see. 
However, detached house approvals have been steadily trending higher over the past five months, and demand for new homes has picked up the pace too. 
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/09/07/B3.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/09/07/B3.jpg" alt="">
Although attached dwelling approvals remained at relatively strong levels in the most populous capital cities in July, the entrenched downtrend is abundantly clear. 
In Brisbane, annual approvals continue to drop precipitously as that market grapples with high-rise overbuilding, especially in the inner city.
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/09/07/B1.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/09/07/B1.jpg" alt="">
Interestingly much of the recent strength in detached house approvals has been accounted for by the regional centres, as house price growth ripples outwards.
At the capital city level detached housing in Brisbane looks robust, but annual house approvals in fundamentally oversupplied Perth are down by 41 per cent from the cyclical peak of December 2014.
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/09/07/B2-1.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/09/07/B2-1.jpg" alt="">
High-rise boom &amp; bust
Looking at the composition of dwellings approved shows that in annualised terms high-rise apartments have dropped by a quarter since the heady peak of October 2015. 
Indeed, the great bulk of the volatility through this cycle has been driven by the heady combination of low interest rates and a surge of Chinese investor demand for high-rise apartments (which has now gone into reverse gear with local financiers having pulled up stumps).
Lately there has been a shift back towards approvals for more boutique apartment blocks, and especially townhouses. 
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/09/07/B4.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/09/07/B4.jpg" alt="">
The boom and subsequent bust in high-rise approvals has followed a markedly similar pattern across each of the three most populous states, thus underscoring the point, although demand in Sydney and Melbourne has held stronger for longer.
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/09/07/B5.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/09/07/B5.jpg" alt="">
Non-residential steps up
While there have been fears of a disorderly slowdown in construction, the total value of building approvals surged in the month July and has been trending solidly higher for six months, helped along by strengthening performance in the non-residential sector.
In fact, the trend in non-residential approvals smoked a record high in July 2017 - in dollar value terms, if not as a share of GDP - driven by office and education buildings in New South Wales and Victoria.
With public works, infrastructure spend, and engineering construction rising, overall the sector remains in considerably better nick than seemed likely at the back end of last year. 
PETE WARGENT is the co-founder of <a href="https://allenwargent.com/">AllenWargent</a> property buyers (London, Sydney) and a best-selling author and <a href="https://petewargent.blogspot.com/">blogger</a>.
His latest book is <a href="https://www.bigskypublishing.com.au/Books/General-Interest/Four-Green-Houses--and-a-Red-Hotel/1015/productview.aspx">Four Green Houses and a Red Hotel</a>.
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pwargent-M4siyDbqQY

Rebalancing away from the high-rise construction effect: Pete Wargent

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Urban.com.au has <a href="/news/collins-street-west-set-for-significant-change">previously highlighted</a> the significant transformation that is currently underway along the western reaches of Collin Street with three projects currently under construction and a number of others due to begin in the next few years.

The three projects in question - Collins Arch, Collins House and <a href="/developments/melbourne-vic-3000">Olderfleet </a>- have all recently had cranes erected following months of demolition and early site works, allowing these three skyline changing projects to begin rising out of the ground.

Together these three projects will also deliver 3,500 sqm of public realm, almost 100,000 sqm of office space, 294 hotel suites and 469 apartments between them over the next 3 years.

Below is a snapshot of the current state of play on each of these projects.

<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/half1.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Olderfleet (Mirvac), Collins House (Golden Age), Collins Arch (Cbus Property)"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="230" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/half1.jpg?itok=ESC3ZIid" title="Olderfleet (Mirvac), Collins House (Golden Age), Collins Arch (Cbus Property)" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Olderfleet (Mirvac), Collins House (Golden Age), Collins Arch (Cbus Property)</figcaption></figure><h2>Collins Arch</h2>

The dual tower development affectionately referred to as 'the pantscraper' has the beginnings of its cores visible with the jump form no too far off.

The development has some way to go before it reaches Collins Street but with Multiplex at the helm its core should begin poking out above the street in the next few months, with the basement levels to follow. Its unique form will most likely appear on the skyline from mid next year.

Upon completion, the 41-storey Collins Arch will feature 294 hotel rooms, 43,000sqm of office space, 202 apartments and a 1,500 sqm park which will add much needed green space into the heart of the city. The Woods Bagot &amp; SHoP designed project will rise to a height of 143m.

<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/collins_arch_1.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Collins Arch construction progress. Images: (L-R) redden, Zekebe"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="274" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/collins_arch_1.jpg?itok=-OJco8gv" title="Collins Arch construction progress. Images: (L-R) redden, Zekebe" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Collins Arch construction progress. Images: (L-R) redden, Zekebe</figcaption></figure><h2>Collins House</h2>

Golden Age's 204m <a href="/buildings/collins-house-melbourne-460-466-collins-street-melbourne">Collins House project</a> will be Australia's thinnest tower and as the below photos illustrate this is not without its challenges as the site's narrow footprint, constraints of neighbouring buildings and a single point of access created issues with the amount of room available to manoeuvre the various pieces of plant required for the ground works.

Despite this construction of the Bates Smart-designed residential tower is expected to pick up with builder Hickory employing its HBS construction method, with the site serviced by a single tower crane and major elements including façade and precast fabricated off-site and rapidly assembled on arrival to Collins Street.

Prefabricated Hickory structural units will be used from level 14 onwards, following the completion of conventional formwork construction. As a result of these construction techniques, the construction programme will be reduced by up to 30%.

<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/p8290453.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Collins House construction progress. Images: redden"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="215" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/p8290453.jpg?itok=GepRXhcM" title="Collins House construction progress. Images: redden" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Collins House construction progress. Images: redden</figcaption></figure><h2>Olderfleet</h2>

Construction of Mirvac's Olderfleet project is in full swing with a targeted completion date of July 2020, when anchor tenant Deloitte will relocate into their Grimshaw-designed digs. In addition to the erection of the first crane behind the Olderlfleet buildings a gantry has also been installed to Collins Street.

The remnants of the 80's office building's western core is visible as the structure provides temporary structural support to the Olderfleet buildings. It will eventually be removed once the new structural elements are built. 

The now exposed rear of the Olderfleet buildings will once again disappear from view as the floor plates rise and obscure the view from the street. The southern facade will be cleaned and restored providing a unique backdrop to the projects lobby and 30m high atrium.

<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/p8270421.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Olderfleet construction progress. Images: redden"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="213" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/p8270421.jpg?itok=oMRx87g-" title="Olderfleet construction progress. Images: redden" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Olderfleet construction progress. Images: redden</figcaption></figure>Lead Image: redden
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Laurence Dragomir

Three Collins Street projects begin their skyward ascent

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A handful of major construction projects are moving closer to reality, as evidenced by current construction tenders open for each of the respective projects.

With a minimum construction value of $50 million, the five projects across metropolitan Melbourne represent the largest projects currently at tender. Below is a brief overview of each of the five projects that will make their place in due course.

<h2>Flinders Gate</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/image20_9.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="The view from Federation Square may include Flinders Gate shortly. Image: Dexus"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="387" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image20_9.jpg?itok=EzhuZOzi" title="The view from Federation Square may include Flinders Gate shortly. Image: Dexus" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>The view from Federation Square may include Flinders Gate shortly. Image: Dexus</figcaption></figure>After being touted as a major commercial development for the best part of five years, Dexus have finally moved Flinders Gate to construction tender.

The adaptive reuse encompasses a 1,071 car park set behind two existing buildings. 20,000sqm of commercial floor space is approved within a mid-rise building that would appear above fully restored heritage facades. According to project architect SJB, "500 car spaces will be removed as part of this redevelopment and will see the addition of 150 bicycle spaces, as part of an ESD initiative to achieve a 5 star NABERS rating."

During 2016 it had been reported that Seek were likely to sign on for space within Flinders Gate, although no official announcement on a tenant for the project has been made to date.

<h2>East Brunswick Village - Stage 1</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/image22_7.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="East Brunswick Village is nearing reality. Image: Merbo"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="349" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image22_7.jpg?itok=YDIA30an" title="East Brunswick Village is nearing reality. Image: Merbo" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>East Brunswick Village is nearing reality. Image: Merbo</figcaption></figure>Another project with a long gestation period is East Brunswick Village at 129–149 Nicholson Street. Brunswick East.

Without a sales campaign in sight, developer Banco Group has pushed ahead with site works, facilitating early works across the massive 21,300sqm site. A construction is imminent with the tender for Stage 1 of the project now current.

Although eventually home to approximately 600 apartments, Merbo Project Management have Stage 1 consisting of 227 apartments over 2 basement levels, 2 buildings of 5 and 6 levels, a Coles supermarket, Liquorland and a host of specialty retailers.

<h2>M-City </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/image24_3.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="M-City will redefine its immediate surrounds in Clayton. Image: Schiavello"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="391" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image24_3.jpg?itok=8amvD7JP" title="M-City will redefine its immediate surrounds in Clayton. Image: Schiavello" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>M-City will redefine its immediate surrounds in Clayton. Image: Schiavello</figcaption></figure>With a construction value in excess of $200 million, Clayton's M-City development is the biggest of all projects currently at tender. To be developed jointly by The Saraceno Group and Schiavello, the 3.52ha site will eventually become a unique multi-use precinct located in the Monash Employment Cluster.

Billed as the largest mixed-use project within Melbourne's metropolitan area, the sheer size of M-City's construction value points toward multiple stages of the project being constructed simultaneously. Multiple residential buildings are joined by commercial and hotel components, plus a mass of retail and entertainment options that will make M-City a destination in itself.

M-City's move to construction signifies the end of a very long effort by The Saraceno Group to develop the site, having tried and failed to facilitate development onsite prior to the tie-up with Schiavello.

<h2>Seasons Doncaster East</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/150708-reynolds-road-view-03-initial-draft.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Pushing the apartment cause in Doncaster East. Image: JD Group"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="295" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/150708-reynolds-road-view-03-initial-draft.jpg?itok=1zZo-e0l" title="Pushing the apartment cause in Doncaster East. Image: JD Group" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Pushing the apartment cause in Doncaster East. Image: JD Group</figcaption></figure>Already sporting a number of tower cranes, Doncaster East will receive a handful move as Seasons Donacster East moves through the construction tender process.

The suburb's largest apartment project, Seasons is the effort of developer JD Group. Approximately 300 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedroom apartments are earmarked across the 13,340sqm site located at 180-200 Reynolds Road.

Seasons is the largest development within The Pines Activity Centre which is on the Blackburn, Reynolds and Andersons Creek Road axis and spans an area of approximately 37.5 hectares. JD Group have previously been active in the area, developing the Reynolds Gardens apartment project diagonally opposite Seasons.

<h2>252 Collins Street - The Hour Glass Refurbishment</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/image26_8.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="252 Collins Street is headed toward change. Image: Kodak"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="494" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image26_8.jpg?itok=rAA0fevL" title="252 Collins Street is headed toward change. Image: Kodak" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>252 Collins Street is headed toward change. Image: Kodak</figcaption></figure>Although quite different to the above new builds, 252 Collins Street's pending overhaul still stacks up in terms of construction value.

Home to The Hour Glass which is one of Australasia's premier luxury watch retail groups, 252 Collins Street's pending works are in excess of $50 million in value. Collins Street continues to see the refurbishment of existing buildings such as the T&amp;G Building, Australia on Collins, Rialto, 360 Collins and 367 Collins.

Although varying in their scope and size, these refurbishments whilst solitary in their nature have had the cumulative effect of ensuring Collins Street remains Melbourne's premier retail thoroughfare.
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The next wave of major builds line up

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The 2017 Federal Budget is expected to provide a shot in the arm for Australia’s $80 billion civil construction market, offsetting further declines in resources-related work, according to forecaster BIS Oxford Economics (BIS).
The total measured work done in the sector would fall to $79.5 billion through 2016/17, down 16 percent on the previous year and 41 percent off the 2012/13 peak of $135 billion, BIS said at the launch of its civil construction report, Engineering Construction in Australia 2017 – 2031. 
However, public sector-funded engineering construction to set to rise to more than $35 billion by 2018/19, almost 30 percent above its 2015/16 level, BIS said based on an analysis of current government spending programmes.
The government plans to spend $75 billion on development and upgrade of infrastructure, which includes a potential buy-out of the Snowy Hydro scheme from the states. Also included is a $20 billion rail line upgrade.
The surge in public sector-funded construction would offset further falls expected in privately funded engineering construction – particularly in the LNG-heavy oil and gas segment – keeping total engineering construction activity in the $75-80 billion per annum range.
“The boom in public infrastructure construction is exciting news as it helps drive a sizeable upswing in non-resources civil construction activity,” BIS senior manager of Infrastructure and Mining Adrian Hart said.
While state and territory governments provide the principal funding for infrastructure investment, the federal government plays an increasingly vital role in supporting state infrastructure programmes and funding nation-building infrastructure.
“This is evident in the sizeable investment plans presented in the 2017/18 Budget, including the ‘off Budget’ commitments to Inland Rail, the construction of Sydney’s second airport, and the ongoing rollout of the NBN,” Hart said.
The increasing use of ‘off Budget’ vehicles by the Federal Government for funding and delivering major infrastructure assets under-reports the true impact of Federal Government infrastructure spending in the Budget – particularly the reported National Partnership Payments to the State and Territory Governments which includes the $75 billion Infrastructure Investment Program (IIP) and Infrastructure Growth Package, he said.
“On first blush, the outlook for Federal infrastructure contributions to the States to 2020/21 is on a declining trend after 2017/18, with lower levels of funding for 2015/16 and 2016/17 compared to the previous Budget,” Hart said.
"However, Federal funding is now higher in the out-years compared to last year, and this does not take into account the sizeable equity contributions required to construct Inland Rail and the Western Sydney Airport, and complete the rollout of the NBN." 
Longer term risks remain to public infrastructure investment
However, there may be risks to longer term public infrastructure funding if the economy turn out weaker than expected by the federal government through the next four years, cautioned BIS.
“The economic forecasts presented in the 2017/18 Federal Budget are certainly rosier than ours,” said Dr Sarah Hunter, head of Australia Macroeconomics, BIS Oxford Economics. 
“Our main concerns are around the projected growth rate of household income and expenditure, which determine income tax and GST revenues. As these account for almost two thirds of total revenues, any miss on these projections will keep the budget in deficit beyond FY 2020/21. Without other spending cuts or tax rises, our forecasts suggest the budget will remain in deficit until at least the mid-2020s.”
In any case, BIS forecasts a downturn in public sector-funded engineering construction work in the early 2020s as a major program of road works, as well as the rollout of the NBN, winds down across the country.
“It will be hard for State and Federal governments to sustain these higher levels of public infrastructure investment in the long term,” said Hart. “Governments must continue to implement sensible tax and expenditure reforms to ensure sustainable funding for infrastructure, as well as maintaining a long term pipeline of productive projects, if a sharper downturn in publicly funded work is to be avoided.”
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jonathanchancellor-7SQnKwU6yx

Federal Budget to drive 30 percent rise in public infrastructure construction: BIS

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With over three hundred projects on our database currently under construction, there's a lot of cranes, pits, core boxes and new facades appearing all over the city.  

Here is a selection images posted originally on the forum by Apartments.com.au users and staff.  Under each image is a link back to the forum thread where the image was originally posted - and there's plenty more images to view in each thread.

<h2>Hendrix - Brunswick </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/hendrix.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by Zicojapan, originally posted 09/04/2017."><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="435" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/hendrix.jpg?itok=R1EYlT5f" title="Image by Zicojapan, originally posted 09/04/2017." width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by Zicojapan, originally posted 09/04/2017.</figcaption></figure>See more images in the <a href="/news">Brunswick forum thread</a>.

<h2>The Fifth at Upper West Side - 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/the_fifth_upper_west_side.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 12/04/2017."><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="870" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/the_fifth_upper_west_side.jpg?itok=5JHsyFb6" title="Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 12/04/2017." width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 12/04/2017.</figcaption></figure> See more images in the <a href="/news">Upper West Side forum thread</a>.

<h2>The Albert - Brunswick</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/the_albert.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 10/04/2017."><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="416" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/the_albert.jpg?itok=2NKPJa_6" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 10/04/2017." width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 10/04/2017.</figcaption></figure> 

See more images in the <a href="/news">Brunswick forum thread</a>.

<h2>Avant - CBD </h2>

<figure><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="870" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/avant.jpg?itok=z0UWPiQO" title="Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 12/04/2017." width="580">

<figcaption>Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 12/04/2017.</figcaption></figure> 

See more images in the <a href="/news">Avant forum thread</a>.

<h2>The Spencer - West Melbourne</h2>

<figure><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="387" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/the_spencer.jpg?itok=fcm1ffhl" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 12/04/2017." width="580">

<figcaption>Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 12/04/2017. </figcaption></figure>See more images in the <a href="/news">North Melbourne &amp; West Melbourne forum thread</a>.

<h2>Mason Square / 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/mason_moonee_ponds.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 09/04/2017."><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="387" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/mason_moonee_ponds.jpg?itok=VK3B4-PE" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 09/04/2017." width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 09/04/2017.</figcaption></figure>See more images in the <a href="/news">Moonee Ponds forum thread</a>.

<h2>Swanston Central - 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/swanston_central.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 12/04/2017."><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="386" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/swanston_central.jpg?itok=Yz1DSkCk" title="Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 12/04/2017." width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 12/04/2017.</figcaption></figure>See more images in the <a href="/news">Swanston Central forum thread</a>.

<h2>Scape Swanston - 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/scape_swanston.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 19/04/2017."><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="870" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/scape_swanston.jpg?itok=6ufRXlVw" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 19/04/2017." width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 19/04/2017.</figcaption></figure> 

See more images in the <a href="/news">Scape Swanston forum thread</a>. 

<h2>Conservatory - 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/conservatory.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 19/04/2017."><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="457" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/conservatory.jpg?itok=sc4ixArE" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 19/04/2017." width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 19/04/2017.</figcaption></figure>See more images in the <a href="/news">Conservatory forum thread</a>.

<h2>Kubix - Wantirna South</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/kubix.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 09/03/2017."><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="870" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/kubix.jpg?itok=fpsIG4pk" title="Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 09/03/2017." width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by Mark Baljak, originally posted 09/03/2017.</figcaption></figure>See more images in the <a href="/news">Greater Melbourne Projects forum thread.</a>

<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/victoria_one.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 12/04/2017."><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="870" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/victoria_one.jpg?itok=3fF-hqo5" title="Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 12/04/2017." width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 12/04/2017.</figcaption></figure>See more images in the <a href="/news">Victoria One forum thread</a>.

<h2>Aurora Melbourne Central - 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/aurora_melb_cent.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 12/04/2017."><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="386" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/aurora_melb_cent.jpg?itok=9dn9jKpi" title="Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 12/04/2017." width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 12/04/2017.</figcaption></figure>See more images in the <a href="/news">Aurora Melbourne Central forum thread</a>.

<h2>Banksia - Docklands</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/banksia_1.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 10/04/2017."><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="870" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/banksia_1.jpg?itok=OP4lSXbt" title="Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 10/04/2017." width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 10/04/2017.</figcaption></figure> 

See more images in the <a href="/news">Banksia forum thread</a>.

<h2>Peel - Collingwood</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/peel.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by John Proctor, originally posted 10/04/2017."><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="773" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/peel.jpg?itok=8iaSEW9x" title="Image by John Proctor, originally posted 10/04/2017." width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by John Proctor, originally posted 10/04/2017.</figcaption></figure> 

See more images in the <a href="/news">Collingwood forum thread.</a>

<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/australia_108.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 09/04/2017."><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="386" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/australia_108.jpg?itok=ItXAbVAG" title="Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 09/04/2017." width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Image by Ryan Seychell, originally posted 09/04/2017.</figcaption></figure>See more images in the <a href="/news">Australia 108 forum thread</a>.

 

Lead image credit: Mark Baljak, <a href="/news">Whitehorse Towers forum thread</a>.
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Alastair Taylor

The state of construction in Melbourne - mid April 2017

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Total employment increased by 80,000 over the three months to February 2017, according to the Detailed Labour Force Figures reported yesterday by the ABS. 
Over the year to February, employment was up by 190,400, the strongest pace of growth in a year and well above the long run average.
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QUwS2QhUPQ4/WNRr-anruCI/AAAAAAAAirc/gfEtUaZ1JzA5Xkad4Idon89cnZVyHmnEwCLcB/s640/EMPLOYMENT2.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QUwS2QhUPQ4/WNRr-anruCI/AAAAAAAAirc/gfEtUaZ1JzA5Xkad4Idon89cnZVyHmnEwCLcB/s640/EMPLOYMENT2.jpg">
Very good on paper! Rather too good, in fact, in the event. To cut a long story short, upon checking with the ABS, it seems that the figures were just not right.
A slight glitch in the matrix, one might say. The quarterly gains were driven by a large 45,500 increase in construction employment.
Mining employment is also now seen to be rising again. 
On the other hand, the rebound in manufacturing employment seems to have popped, and employment in the retail trade sector has apparently been crushed over the past year, down by a thumping 62,700. 
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-if5cS8z3mnM/WNRr-r1rp9I/AAAAAAAAirg/COaIwu7Lnwgx2dlq8CoYoLJvuhp6sNZUgCLcB/s640/EMPLOYMENT3.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-if5cS8z3mnM/WNRr-r1rp9I/AAAAAAAAirg/COaIwu7Lnwgx2dlq8CoYoLJvuhp6sNZUgCLcB/s640/EMPLOYMENT3.jpg">
A bit of a mixed bag, and one which suggests to me that the economy has become too heavily reliant upon the residential building boom. Construction employment has now soared to 1,114,800 from a total workforce of about 12 million, which seems incredibly high - well above historic norms - and probably peaky. 
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-inQTh61xTaI/WNRr-8CT3kI/AAAAAAAAirk/bd6heGgtC6k7FCAH1-W_-x4wtb-QNqJiwCLcB/s640/EMPLOYMENT.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-inQTh61xTaI/WNRr-8CT3kI/AAAAAAAAirk/bd6heGgtC6k7FCAH1-W_-x4wtb-QNqJiwCLcB/s640/EMPLOYMENT.jpg">
Remarkably the rebound in total mining employment to 241,700 means that employment in the industry is now only 36,700 below the 2012 peak. 
Where are the jobs? Perhaps I'll look at the regional jobs growth another time.
Just to note here for now that Sydney has consistently seen the lowest unemployment rate of the major capital cities, and Adelaide the highest. 
Hobart takes out the most improved award. 
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4IDe_HPNqBY/WNRr_rPw6BI/AAAAAAAAiro/sX0W-t3dxSwcbHGJdlyKfCMu8A9mRbTfwCLcB/s640/UNEMPLOYMENT%2BRATES.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4IDe_HPNqBY/WNRr_rPw6BI/AAAAAAAAiro/sX0W-t3dxSwcbHGJdlyKfCMu8A9mRbTfwCLcB/s640/UNEMPLOYMENT%2BRATES.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4IDe_HPNqBY/WNRr_rPw6BI/AAAAAAAAiro/sX0W-t3dxSwcbHGJdlyKfCMu8A9mRbTfwCLcB/s640/UNEMPLOYMENT%2BRATES.jpg"></a>
Brisbane is now seeing population growth picking up as expected, which over time will help to tackle the inner city apartment glut, though this is also putting pressure on detached house prices in sought after school zones. 
But to date Greater Brisbane doesn't appear to be creating the jobs to keep its unemployment rate down.
And it needs to.
PETE WARGENT is the co-founder of <a href="https://allenwargent.com/" target="_blank">AllenWargent</a> property buyers (London, Sydney) and a best-selling author and <a href="https://petewargent.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blogger</a>.
His latest book is <a href="https://www.bigskypublishing.com.au/Books/General-Interest/Four-Green-Houses--and-a-Red-Hotel/1015/productview.aspx" target="_blank">Four Green Houses and a Red Hotel</a>.
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Construction driving employment increases: Pete Wargent

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One of the northern CBD's new breed of skyscrapers reached a monumental construction marker last week. Hengyi Australia's <a href="/buildings/light-house-450-elizabeth-street-melbourne">Light House</a> apartment development appeared sans jump form, signifying the termination of the tower at 69 levels above Elizabeth Street.

Using Light House's milestone as a nominal halfway point of development for the current crop, it's an opportune time to provide an update on the progress of the many towers that are transforming the CBD's northern fringe into a much taller, denser environment.

<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/image60_1.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Light House and Empire will go no higher"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="433" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image60_1.jpg?itok=ue1c0L0n" title="Light House and Empire will go no higher" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Light House and Empire will go no higher</figcaption></figure>Light House has been joined by <a href="/buildings/empire-melbourne-398-elizabeth-street-melbourne">Empire</a> in having its jump form removed, with the latter terminating at 62 levels. Also along the north-south Elizabeth Street axis, the distinctly green <a href="/buildings/victoria-one-452-472-elizabeth-street-melbourne">Victoria One</a> is approaching the 200m mark, on its way to an eventual floor count of 75 and the mantle of Elizabeth Street's tallest building.

A'Beckett Street's <a href="/buildings/avant-60-abeckett-street-melbourne">Avant</a> is shaping as the precinct's most daring tower in terms of facade treatment, defined by its vibrant purple facade and stretched diagrid exterior; the project has approximately 35 floor left prior to its topping out.

<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/image61_0.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Avant, Aurora and Scape Swanston. Images: Ryan Seychell"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="302" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image61_0.jpg?itok=vzQwBskb" title="Avant, Aurora and Scape Swanston. Images: Ryan Seychell" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Avant, Aurora and Scape Swanston. Images: Ryan Seychell</figcaption></figure>Avant's purple exterior is matched by that of another Elenberg Fraser-designed tower nearby, with the curving <a href="/buildings/eq-tower-127-abeckett-street-melbourne">EQ Tower</a> all but complete.

At 63 levels, the tower reached its significant marker during December, with a <a href="/news/three-years-on-eq-tower-tops-out">topping out ceremony held onsite</a>. According to developer ICD Property, the balance of apartments are due to settle during April.

<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/7da108d5216cf984792a95fd23e84767.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="EQ Tower standing tall. Images: Ryan Seychell"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="870" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/7da108d5216cf984792a95fd23e84767.jpg?itok=w5Dzp1b8" title="EQ Tower standing tall. Images: Ryan Seychell" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>EQ Tower standing tall. Image: Ryan Seychell</figcaption></figure><a href="/buildings/aurora-melbourne-central-224-la-trobe-street-melbourne">Aurora Melbourne Central</a> as the area's biggest build is progressing well, with the podium structure for the 88 level goliath at its mid point. Also marching along is Scape Student Living's first Melbourne project at <a href="/buildings/scape-melbourne-393-swanston-street-melbourne">393 Swanston Street</a>. Regular floor plates and a precast exterior which is installed with windows in situ has allowed construction on the 42 storey building to rocket along.

Further toward the CBD's north-east corner, both <a href="/buildings/conservatory-9-23-mackenzie-street-melbourne">Conservatory</a> and <a href="/developments/melbourne-vic-3000">42-50 La Trobe Street</a> are at early stages of their construction life, with both projects being undertaken by builder Hickory Group.

<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/melbourne_model_02_18082016_0.png" rel="gallery-all" title="Laurence Dragomir's 2016 depiction of Melbourne's CBD"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="270" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/melbourne_model_02_18082016_0.png?itok=k6eHUeKj" title="Laurence Dragomir's 2016 depiction of Melbourne's CBD" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Laurence Dragomir's 2016 depiction of Melbourne's CBD</figcaption></figure>As the area's unprecedented construction growth changes the northern CBD's environs, it's far from a completed product. Various high-rise projects have yet to make their mark on the skyline, including some very tall buildings.

308 Exhibition Street, Queens Place, 111 A'Beckett Street, RMIT's new mixed-use A'Beckett Street tower and Scape Student Living's reworked 97 Franklin Street are but a few of the projects that can be expected in coming years. Add a raft of smaller skyscrapers that are either at planning or hold approval, in addition to Victoria Market's mooted high-rise buildings, and the built form transformation in the area has many towers yet to come.

<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/image58_4.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="308 Exhibition Street, Scape CUB and 111 A'Beckett Street"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="309" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image58_4.jpg?itok=gxyemCpA" title="308 Exhibition Street, Scape CUB and 111 A'Beckett Street" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>308 Exhibition Street, Scape CUB and 111 A'Beckett Street</figcaption></figure>
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