Mark and Roy Makari are expanding their presence in Sydney’s South West with a second major proposal for Leppington, this time envisioning a 900-dwelling mixed-use development just 850 metres from their previously lodged tower trio on Fifth Avenue.

The latest application seeks approval for a multi-building project at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/230-rickard-road-leppington-nsw-2179">230 Rickard Road, Leppington</a>. The proposal seeks to establish a new focal point for the precinct through a high-density, transit-oriented development supported by diverse land uses.

According to the Scoping Report prepared for the Department of Planning, the scheme includes around 900 apartments across multiple towers, including 135 dwellings designated for affordable housing. A mix of market and subsidised apartments will be supported by ground-level activation through retail and office space, a childcare centre, and a hotel, forming a comprehensive urban precinct.

<img alt="Mixed Use Development 230 Rickard Rd Leppington" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="34797362-f3dc-4d84-8235-2657fc5f3bde" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Plan.png?VersionId=Uzckrz9tUpDQl5lX1_WMhjnv16bsr8wG" />

The Design Report by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/studiosc-0">Studio SC</a> notes that the project “intends to deliver a high-quality, high-density built form that supports the vision for the Leppington Town Centre, integrating mixed-use outcomes and public domain upgrades.” The development is expected to be delivered in stages, although a precise timeline is yet to be confirmed.

The project will be assessed through a future State Significant Development Application, with the Scoping Report indicating the team will seek design excellence via a competitive process or through an expert design review panel. Early massing diagrams suggest a series of mid- to high-rise buildings framing a central landscaped spine, with emphasis on pedestrian permeability and public space.

The planning documentation flags a strong sustainability agenda, stating that the development will “respond to the urban heat island effect, incorporate water sensitive urban design, and prioritise active transport”.

<img alt="Mixed Use Development 230 Rickard Rd Leppington" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="369d7b54-1279-4cde-88ec-dcb215594414" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Podium_1.png?VersionId=QArL7B2kkLt63vl5xvL0FNV_ardAlez4" />

The proposal follows in the footsteps of the Makaris’ nearby Fifth Avenue site, where they’ve submitted plans for three towers comprising nearly 500 apartments, with 10 per cent dedicated to affordable housing. That project features commercial podiums, a childcare centre, and a new public park that would occupy more than a third of the site.

Both developments are situated within walking distance of Leppington Train Station and fall under strategic precinct plans promoting higher density housing. The town centre is undergoing substantial transformation, driven by state government planning reforms aimed at fast-tracking housing delivery.

Together, the two projects represent a combined ambition of nearly 1,400 new homes across just under two kilometres of central Leppington.

Staff Writer

First look: 900-home mixed-use precinct planned for Leppington

Leading Australian integrated property development group, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/aqualand-australia">Aqualand</a>, has released the signature penthouses crowning its landmark AURA by Aqualand precinct at 168 Walker Street in North Sydney, unveiling Il Magnate and La Divina as the largest and most luxurious penthouses in the suburb.

With prices anticipated to commence from $15 million, and each accompanied by a new Porsche Carrera 911 valued at over $500K, the residences mark the culmination of <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/buildings/aura-by-aqualand-north-sydney-168-walker-street-north-sydney-nsw-2060">AURA by Aqualand</a>’s decade-long journey and the beginning of its final sales chapter. 
&nbsp; 
Their release follows more than $850 million in record-breaking residential sales and the building’s completion and occupation.

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The Richards Stanisich-designed 284 sqm Il Magnate and 224 sqm La Divina penthouses, collectively known as The Icons of AURA, are conceived as grand luxury homes rather than apartments, with expansive proportions, elevated materiality and curated identities that reflect their status as one-off residences.&nbsp;

Il Magnate features a grande master suite, complete with substantial walk-in dressing area and ensuite, three other bedrooms, second ensuite and another bathroom, powder room, open plan kitchen, scullery, substantial dining area and generous living room divided by a feature fireplace, and a multifunction wintergarden, which is ideal for a study and adjoining office breakout space. &nbsp;

Meanwhile, the La Divina residence offers the same amenities, sans the powder room, on a slightly smaller alternate floor plan configuration.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=30959 project_image_fid=358863]

Each occupies half of AURA by Aqualand’s topmost 28th level, comes with four secure car spaces and pairs sweeping Sydney Harbour panoramas with large-scale living spaces, refined detailing and a level of craftsmanship and amenity rarely offered in the North Shore market.&nbsp;

Penthouse residents will also receive Etymon’s ‘Black Key’ private concierge and lifestyle management service, an invitation only offering providing the ultimate in bespoke personalisation, including a range of everyday discrete services, from dinner party management, grocery deliveries, pet feeding or plants watered, dinners, snacks and coffee deliveries, event ticket sourcing, right up to organising travel visas and international airfares. Rarely seen in Australian properties, the service provides residents the benefits of living in a world-class luxury hotel-style home, akin to The Ritz, or the Waldorf Astoria.

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<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/interior-designers/richards-stanisich">Richards Stanisich</a>’s Director, Kirsten Stanisich, said the studio set out to craft residences that feel profoundly considered, contemporary and deeply connected to their setting.

“From the outset, we approached these penthouses with the sensibility of a grand Parisian residence - generous in scale, elegant in proportion and designed to feel more like a handcrafted home than an apartment," Stanisich said.

“Their elevated position and sweeping harbour outlook informed every decision, creating a rare connection between urban sophistication and natural calm. We shaped each space with expressive materiality, sculptural forms and bespoke detailing that invite touch and interaction.&nbsp;

“The result is a pair of residences defined by volume, light and an inherent softness - refined, flexible and deeply personal. These penthouses are unlike anything else in North Sydney, offering a sanctuary of true luxury framed by some of the city’s most remarkable views.”

For Aqualand’s Head of Sales &amp; Marketing, Alex Adams, the collaboration with Porsche underscores the shared ethos behind the residences.

“Aqualand’s collaboration with Porsche underpins both brand’s sharing an obsession with craftsmanship, design excellence, and enduring value," Adams said.

“Our penthouses are created for those who appreciate the finer details and expect the extraordinary at every touchpoint. Including a Porsche simply extends that experience beyond the residence - it’s a continuation of the lifestyle our buyers already live.”&nbsp;

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Aqualand’s Managing Director, Jin Lin, said the penthouses represent both the pinnacle of AURA by Aqualand and an important design benchmark for the company’s future pipeline.&nbsp;

“These stunning penthouses reflect the purest expression of Aqualand’s design ambition," Lin said.

“The unparalleled design intent makes them not only the glistening crown of AURA by Aqualand, but the crown of North Sydney itself. They’re essentially a thank you gift to a burgeoning community that deserves this level of quality and architectural consideration.&nbsp;

“We’re leveraging the unrivalled standard set here as the foundation for what comes next, including our upcoming Anderson Street, Chatswood; 15 Blue Street, North Sydney and Central Barangaroo projects. Purchasers of these penthouses will essentially be living inside the blueprint of Aqualand’s future.

“These landmark residences demonstrate how far North Sydney has evolved and the strength of demand for highly curated, bespoke luxury homes. They’re more than penthouses, they’re legacy residences.&nbsp;

“With AURA by Aqualand now a thriving new precinct with residents well and truly settled, and our in-house world-class lifestyle amenity activated, Il Magnate and La Divina represent a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure an extraordinary piece of North Sydney’s future.”

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Joel Robinson

Aqualand launches North Sydney penthouses with free Porsche Carrera 911

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/bokarina-qld-4575">Bokarina</a> Beach has quietly evolved into one of the Sunshine Coast’s most complete coastal lifestyle precincts, defined not just by proximity to the ocean, but by how residential living, local retail and everyday amenity are stitched together.&nbsp;

Gardner Vaughan Group’s <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/bask-bokarina-38-bokarina-boulevard-bokarina-qld-4575">Bask Bokarina</a> now represents the final residential chapter in that transformation.

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Over recent years, the Bokarina Beach precinct has taken shape as a walkable, community-oriented neighbourhood, anchored by beachfront access, Lake Kawana to the west, and a growing mix of cafés, specialty retail and public open space.&nbsp;

With Zinc Bokarina already delivered next door by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/gardner-vaughan-group">Gardner Vaughan Group</a> (GVG), Bask is the last opportunity to buy a brand new apartment within the precinct, effectively rounding out a fully formed coastal village.

GVG has positioned Bask to strengthen that lifestyle framework. Nine ground-floor retail spaces are planned beneath the residences, extending Bokarina Boulevard’s existing activity and reinforcing the area’s everyday convenience, from casual dining and coffee to local services, within a short walk of the beach.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=141609 project_image_fid=333359]

The residential component comprises 135 apartments across two buildings, Mydas and Caretta, with a clear shift toward larger three- and four-bedroom layouts and penthouses. That mix reflects a maturing buyer profile in Bokarina, where demand is increasingly led by owner-occupiers and active downsizers seeking space, permanence, and connection to place rather than short-term coastal accommodation.

Design and amenity have followed the same logic. Residents will have access to a heated plunge pool, gym, private dining room with a full kitchen, landscaped communal gardens with barbecues and a firepit, and a shared herb and vegetable garden, facilities intended to support daily use rather than resort-style turnover. Pet-friendly features, including a dog wash bay, acknowledge both buyer expectations and the area’s dog-friendly beach, located around 250 metres from the site.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=141609 project_image_fid=333366]

“Bokarina has become one of the Sunshine Coast’s most desirable beachside communities, and Bask represents the very last chance to buy new in this location,” GVG Director Sam Gardner said.&nbsp;

“Our focus has been to create spacious, functional apartments that meet the needs of locals who want to downsize without compromise, as well as those seeking a full-time coastal retreat.”

Positioned between the Pacific Ocean and Lake Kawana, Bask apartments have been oriented to capture outlooks toward the water or the Glass House Mountains, reinforcing the project’s connection to its natural surroundings. With parks, beachfront paths, hospitals, retail and public transport already in place, Bask arrives at a point where the broader precinct is no longer emerging, but established.

Construction is expected to complete in Q3 this year, with apartments ready to move into this Spring.

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Bask to complete Bokarina’s Sunshine Coast lifestyle precinct as final apartments are released

Property development giant <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/avid-property-group">AVID Property Group</a> is approaching completion, and sell-out, of its Surry Hills apartment development, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/the-rathbone-23-47-flinders-street-surry-hills-nsw-2010">The Rathbone</a>.

The Flinders St project has sold well over half of its 32 apartments, which will sit above two retail spaces.

Now hitting the market are the final 14 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, which start from $1.15 million. AVID is targeting a mid-2026 completion.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=5947 project_image_fid=51208]

AVID General Manager New South Wales Danny Boubli said as more apartments are introduced to increase housing options in inner-city areas, homebuyers are searching for a &nbsp;sense of belonging in addition to location, convenience and value.&nbsp;

“There are very few opportunities for new developments in Surry Hills, and since acquiring the site, we’ve even seen one early purchaser merge two apartments plans together, reflecting the demand for a spacious, premium offering in a prime location,” Boubli said.&nbsp;

“Demand has been strong since we launched to market – we don’t see these final apartments staying on the market for long.”&nbsp;

Architectural firm Studio SC has designed the building which pays homage to the former 1900s Rathbone Terraces that once sat on the 990 sqm island site.

Boubil said the team has made every effort to create "truly liveable apartments", through&nbsp;functional floor plans, security, storage, and the inclusion of quality fittings.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=5947 project_image_fid=51207]

&nbsp;

Sustainable design has also been implemented throughout the development, with natural light flooding each apartment, ventilation throughout, extensive landscaping and where possible, materials with a high level of recycled content and low volatile organic compound paints have been used. &nbsp;

Apartments range in size from 57 sqm for the one-bedrooms to the large-scale 165 sqm three-beds which are priced at $2,575,000.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=5947]

AVID launches final apartments at The Rathbone, Surry Hills

A wave of investment, renewal and precinct growth continues to shape the northern edge of Macquarie Park, where daily life is supported by a rare combination of university activity, corporate employment, major retail, and expansive green corridors. It’s this convergence of amenity and connectivity underpins the setting for <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/urban-property-group">Urban Property Group</a>’s <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/la-vera-94-talavera-road-macquarie-park-nsw-2113">La Vera</a>, which has now topped out and is tracking toward completion in mid-2026.

Within this pocket of the precinct, residents move easily between the area’s key anchors. Macquarie Centre, home to more than 360 retailers, fresh food offerings, dining and entertainment, sits at the heart of local convenience and functions as a major transport interchange. The Metro, T1 rail line and extensive bus network place much of Sydney within quick reach, while surrounding arterial links support direct access to neighbouring districts.

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Green space remains a defining feature of the immediate environment. Lane Cove National Park stretches along the northern boundary of the precinct, offering bushland trails, cycling routes and quiet riverfront pockets. Shrimptons Creek and the campus grounds of Macquarie University extend these recreational networks, softening the urban setting and creating a daily connection to nature that informs the project’s architectural response.

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/cox-architecture">Cox Architecture</a> have shaped La Vera around these contrasts. The building’s northern elevation adopts an organic, curvilinear form that mirrors the natural topography of the national park. Three sculpted forms soften the tower’s profile and encourage a stronger transition between indoor living areas, balconies and the broader landscape.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134951 project_image_fid=223737]

Cox Director Felipe Miranda says the building’s outlook played a central role in the design process.

“The vision for the project was to conceive a building that adopted an organic and curvilinear form to the northern portion that faces the Lane Cove National Park… The residents that reside in the northern portion of the building benefit by having beautifully crafted curved balconies that speak to the natural context and heighten the relationship of their internal living spaces to the external balconies,” Felipe Miranda of Cox Architecture said.

Toward the city-facing side, the design shifts to a more urban expression. A gridded facade and extensive glazing capture CBD views, creating a dual strategy that blends ecological outlooks with metropolitan orientation.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134951 project_image_fid=5827]

La Vera delivers 169 residences across one- to four-bedroom layouts, reflecting the needs of young families, downsizers, first-home buyers and investors seeking long-term certainty within a high-amenity location. From the project, residents can walk to Macquarie University, Macquarie Hospital and nearby corporate offices, reach national park trails within minutes, and enjoy retail and dining without relying on a car.

The project is delivered by Urban Property Group, a 4.5-star iCIRT-rated developer-builder with more than three decades of experience. The company has become a leader in adopting 10-Year Latent Defects Insurance (LDI), first introduced on its Parq Bexley development and now embedded into its pipeline.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134951 project_image_fid=223727]

La Vera is the first development in Macquarie Park approved to offer this 10-year LDI policy, adding another layer of protection for purchasers and reinforcing the transparency of the construction process.

Urban Property Group CEO Patrick Elias says this assurance has become increasingly important for buyers navigating the off-the-plan market.

“Consumers are a lot more weary and a lot more concerned in buying off the plan than they ever have been… Having LDI is a tool to portray the confidence that we have in our product, and a confidence we want buyers to share,” Urban Property Group CEO Patrick Elias said.

Urban Property Group's in-house construction team is forecasting a mid-2026 completion, with <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/project-marketer/home789">HOME789</a> appointed as the project marketer.

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La Vera delivers a nature-connected address within Macquarie Park’s core

Laneway

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GUEST OBSERVATION
Melbourne laneways are famous for its cobbled bluestone laneways. 
If we think of the bluestone in Melbourne, we may first think of the famous cobbled laneways intersecting the urban grid.
Initially, these laneways were used for the collection of night soil – human excrement collected at night from buckets or privies – and they are still useful routes for collecting rubbish and recycling bins. But laneways are increasingly being reclaimed as lively strips for cafes, bars, restaurants and galleries in the city, or re-made as <a href="https://www.ausleisure.com.au/news/city-of-melbourne-unveils-first-green-laneway/" target="_blank">gardens</a> in the suburbs.
Laneways are an important part of Melbourne’s heritage infrastructure, protected by legislation and design guides. And they are often defended by enthusiasts whenever a local council threatens to remove the bluestones or pave them over with asphalt.
The other thing we might think of when it comes to bluestone in Melbourne are landmark buildings such as Pentridge Prison (still known affectionately as the “bluestone college”) and the Old Melbourne Gaol in Russell St.
Then there is the more elegant gothic style of St Patrick’s Cathedral, or the brutal modernism of the National Gallery of Victoria. Several blocks further down St Kilda Road are the grand Victoria Barracks, festooned with gorgeous crimson Boston Ivy in autumn.
Deep bluestone foundations also underpin some of the city’s most famous sandstone buildings: the Victorian Parliament, the Treasury, the Town Hall and the Supreme Court.
These dark grey stones that line and frame its streets and buildings are an important feature of Melbourne’s urban identity. Here’s how it began.
From furious beginnings
The formations of bluestone are paradoxically both fast and slow, and begin with explosions of fire and rock.
In successive periods of <a href="https://museumsvictoria.com.au/website/melbournemuseum/discoverycentre/600-million-years/timeline/quaternary/western-district-volcanoes/index" target="_blank">volcanic activity</a> to the north and south-west of Melbourne (some from 4.5 million years ago, some as recent as 10,000 years ago), rocks and boulders were thrown up as flaming projectiles or poured out of volcanoes as molten lava.
From these furious beginnings, basalt settles into the heavy dark stones we now associate with stability and endurance.
But the consistency of bluestone varies widely, depending on how it was formed. When it cools slowly, it’s hard and smooth, with barely a flaw, or at most a delicate thread of tiny bubbles. This is the highest grade stone, used for smooth surfaces such as hearthstones and front-facing walls.
But if a flying boulder lands in water, it cools more rapidly, so pockets of gas produce bubbles, even sometimes a honey-comb effect.
The quality, colour and consistency of bluestone used in Melbourne also varies according to the quarries from which it’s sourced; or whether it comes from Australia or overseas.
Uses in Indigenous culture
Geological time is almost beyond our reckoning, though Indigenous culture and history helps us read these formations on a human scale. A stone axe-head, found deep beneath layers of volcanic ash at <a href="http://www.worngundidj.org.au/?q=tower-hill/about-reserve">Tower Hill</a>, suggests Indigenous people would have witnessed some of the volcanic activity on this site.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281499/original/file-20190627-76705-1etkjff.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281499/original/file-20190627-76705-1etkjff.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
A sketch from 1837 showing The Falls, a stretch of bluestone crossing the Yarra that acted as a natural bridge. (Source: State Library of Victoria)<a class="source" href="http://digital.slv.vic.gov.au/view/action/nmets.do?DOCCHOICE=295764.xml&amp;dvs=1561599813270~465&amp;locale=en_US&amp;search_terms=&amp;adjacency=&amp;VIEWER_URL=/view/action/nmets.do?&amp;DELIVERY_RULE_ID=4&amp;divType=&amp;usePid1=true&amp;usePid2=true"> </a>
Important traces of Indigenous knowledge and use of bluestone have also been discovered throughout Melbourne and elsewhere in Victoria.
For instance, bluestone was used for an eel trap system carbon-dated to 6,600 years old, developed near Lake Condah in the sacred <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/budj-bim" target="_blank">Budj Bim</a> landscape.
There’s also the natural basalt-bluestone ledge across the Yarra river — known as “<a href="https://overland.org.au/2012/07/melbourne-from-the-falls/" target="_blank">The Falls</a>” — which separated fresh and salt water. It was used as a meeting place for different tribal groups, but was removed in the 1880s.
And there are basalt stones arranged as astronomical markers at <a href="https://www3.astronomicalheritage.net/index.php/show-entity?identity=15&amp;idsubentity=1" target="_blank">Wurdi Youang</a>, near Lara.
Settler buildings
Bluestone was the obvious choice <a href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/operating-procedure-bluestone.pdf" target="_blank">for construction</a> when Melbourne was a booming gold-rush city in the 1850s. It was cheap and plentiful, and there was convict labor to cut and haul its heavy weight.
But as early as the 1880s, bluestone had become unfashionable, perceived as too dark, somber and forbidding.
Bluestone has a somber, dark appearance – an appropriate material for the Old Melbourne Gaol.
Bluestone buildings were increasingly lightened with sandstone or white stucco edges and borders, while granite and sandstone became the stones of choice for grand public buildings.
Now, bluestone is prized again for its heritage value. But “heritage” is always a movable category, susceptible to changes in both fashion and feeling about the past.
There is something compelling about the way stone helps us think about time, history and change. As Jeffrey Jerome Cohen <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.ctt155jmth" target="_blank">observes</a>:
<blockquote>
to lay hand upon stone is to press against time in material form.
</blockquote>
Bluestone is prized today for its markers of history
In my own work <a href="https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/bitstream/handle/11343/129561/Bluestone.pdf?sequence=1&amp;isAllowed=y" target="_blank">researching bluestone</a>, I’m collecting more recent personal narratives about this stone.
Many Melburnians have powerful stories about the way its characteristic square “pitchers” and long rectangular building blocks are bought and sold, collected and dispersed, recycled or moved from one site to another, from public buildings to suburban gardens and makeshift walls. It’s as if the citizens were playing a mysterious, long-range collective game of Lego.
 
Some of the most prized stones are those that seem to bear the ancient marks of wheels, or of convict labor, whether in the form of initials and arrows chiselled into the stone, or the more mundane markers of manual work.
Gardeners, builders and diggers of cellars struggle with the large “floaters” under old houses and in the gardens in the north and western suburbs, straining to lever them from the black sticky clay of the <a href="http://vro.agriculture.vic.gov.au/dpi/vro/vrosite.nsf/pages/soil_vic_contenders_black_vertosol">Merri Creek soil</a>, famously used as the basis of the MCG cricket pitch.
Melbourne’s bluestone history is not just geological and cultural: it is also an emotional one, as we constantly redefine our relationship with this distinctive stone.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118755/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stephanie-trigg-142520" target="_blank">Stephanie Trigg</a>, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor of English Literature, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-melbourne-722" target="_blank">University of Melbourne</a>
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-molten-lava-to-cobbled-laneways-how-bluestone-shaped-melbournes-identity-118755" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

From molten lava to cobbled laneways, how bluestone shaped Melbourne: Stephanie Trigg

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Owner occupiers and investors have the chance to secure a rare laneway retail asset in their heart of the Melbourne CBD.
Colliers International’s Chris Ling, Oliver Hay and Anthony Kirwan have been appointed to sell 22 Russell Place by international expressions of interest.
Nestled between Bourke Street and Little Collins Street in the CBD’s sought after retail precinct, the prime retail asset is situated on the ground floor of a nine-storey mixed-use complex.
Spanning 53 sqm of NLA, the property benefits from high ceilings and a floor-to-ceiling glazed shopfront.
“The location of the property is second to none, being in one of Melbourne’s signature laneways Russell Place,” Mr Ling said.
“This rare opportunity is perfectly timed, being offered with vacant possession, as there is flexibility for owner occupiers and investors to capitalise on the strong rental growth and the variety of uses the premises offers.”
“Strategically the property has immediate access to the Bourke Street tram supers-stop at the front doorstep as well as Melbourne Central and Parliament Train Stations. The area will also benefit from the upcoming State Library Metro Station,” he said.
“Opportunities of this kind are highly sought-after in Melbourne CBD and are rare as such, we are expecting a competitive contest when this property hits the market next week.”
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Rare Russell Place, Melbourne laneway asset offered to market

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Jeff Xu's Golden Age Group has put to market the freestanding McKillop House on one of Melbourne’s laneways.
CBRE has the listing of the 12-14 McKillop Street property, located between Little Collins Street and Bourke Street.
It comprises a freestanding, five level Manhattan-style building over 1706 square metres featuring bespoke floors of 250 square metres and large industrial style windows.
The 361 square metre corner site has 22 metres frontage ideal for a diversity of uses including retail, hospitality, office, hotel and/or residential.
The property will be auctioned October 12 at 12.30pm on site, next door to the ISPT-Brookfield Foundry project.
It last sold at $11.55 million in 2015.
<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/2018/8/24/12-14%20Mckillop%20Street.jpg" alt="">
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Jeff Xu lists Melbourne laneway holding McKillop House

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An unnamed 59 square metre lane in the Melbourne CBD had been sold for $600,000.
Its recent offering attracted interest from more than 100 potential buyers, the Herald Sun reported.
The<a href="https://www.realcommercial.com.au/property-land+development-vic-melbourne-502793878" target="_blank"> unnamed lane</a> runs off another laneway between Little Bourke and Lonsdale Streets.
Its future remains a mystery.
It was speculated during its selling campaign that the rare 59 square metre piece of CBD land could be transformed into a retail space, car parking, or a staple of Melbourne’s colourful lanes: a trendy, hard-to-find bar.
The property is zoned Capital City Zone 1 (CCZ1) allowing for a variety of uses including retail/hospitality, office and residential in a high foot traffic precinct.
Peter Lechte’s family had owned the laneway for 70 years until its sale through Colliers International Victoria selling agent Chris Ling.
The rare offering, that sits just off Niagara Lane, sold two weeks before its expressions of interest campaign was due to close.
The property had belonged to the Lechtes since 1948, when Alan Lechte bought it along with the nearby St Francis Hotel and several warehouses.
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Nameless Melbourne CBD lane sold with future use a mystery

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A Redfern laneway that was nameless on maps for more than 130 years has been named after a 19th century local mum and pioneer businesswoman who is thought to be Australia’s first female builder in Sydney.
The City of Sydney has named the narrow laneway running parallel to Pitt Street between Turner and Redfern streets as Glover Lane in honour of Anne Glover and her family.
Members of the Glover family were builders who lived and worked in the area in the late 19th century.
Following the death of John, her husband, Anne led the family business to help shape the historic suburb.
The Glovers built the row of terraces they called Victoria Terrace in Pitt Street, Redfern, with the help of sub-contractors in 1879.
Newspaper records from November that year show a pair of brand new, six-roomed houses on Pitt Street advertised for lease by a company called “Mrs Glover and Sons”.
"Anne Glover was building beautiful homes that still stand as a monument to a woman ahead of her time,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.
“It is only fitting that we name the laneway after her and her hardworking family.”
Anne Glover, the family matriarch, was widowed in 1863, but from 1873 through to 1884 she ran a building firm based in Waterloo and Redfern with two sons, David and Thomas.
"The proposed naming commemorates a local firm and female empowerment in a male dominated trade," council papers said. 
Master Builder Association’s NSW’s Executive Director, Brian Seidler, told 2GB's Ross Greenwood Small Business Show that Anne Glover was a trailblazer for women in an industry which needed women over the next 18 months building boom as "the great untapped resource."
“While we can’t definitively confirm Anne Glover as the first female builder in Australia, she was certainly one of the very first,” Mr Seidler said.
Anne Glover (nee Stinson or Stevenson) arrived in Australia as an unmarried 22-year-old housekeeper aboard the Garrow from Ireland in 1839. 
The Glovers lived and worked on Botany Road, Waterloo, near Raglan Street, from 1873 to 1884, then moved to 95 Victoria Terrace on Pitt Street.
Anne Glover died aged 73 in 1888.
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jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

Glover Lane, Redfern named after Sydney's first female builder

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Urban.com.au has highlighted Hosier Lane <a href="/news/hosier-lane-off-the-boil">more than enough times</a> and fairly so, with the tourist attraction never short on something new to gaze upon.

Along with a new retail/cafe space as part of the 167 Flinders Lane redevelopment, new artworks continue to appear in the area. Enjoy the pictures.
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melbournee12

Hosier Lane in the shadows of 2015

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Melbourne's retail core has seen a notable resurgence of late, with the significant redevelopments of Myer, David Jones, The Emporium, The Strand and GPO. The currently under construction St. Collins Lane project will see additional shoppers returning to the CBD area in a big way.

While the big brands provide incentive enough for shoppers to swarm the CBD, shoppers and people are also drawn in by the experience gained by visiting Melbourne's laneway and coffee culture which provides an altogether different vibe compared to the traditional mall. What is so great about shopping in Melbourne heart is that shortly enough any individual could will be able to walk from Flinders Street through to Lonsdale Street on this 'retail/social/cultural highway' of sorts.

Think of it as another north-south aligned Elizabeth Street or Russell Street, the major difference being of course that it's a pedestrian thoroughfare full of character - of what makes Melbourne great!

The following photo tour sees me exploring Melbourne's laneways within the retail core of the city, beginning at Degraves Street, walking through Centre Place whilst the Block Arcade and Royal Arcade follow. Exploring the multiple laneways along Little Collins Street, Postal Lane to Little Bourke Street, with Melbourne Central and Little Lonsdale Street rounding out the tour. Please enjoy.
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Exploring Melbourne's retail and laneway spine

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Call this an opinion piece, a policy piece, a design piece, and environment piece... it doesn't particularly matter what category it falls under.  What does matter is the completely inept finish and total lack of respect shown to the surrounds in the image above.

For readers unaware, one of Melbourne's unheralded gems can be found mid block and bound by Elizabeth, La Trobe, Queen and Little Lonsdale.  This historic red brick warehouse precinct is exemplary and provides a genuine glimpse into Melbourne's past, yet with the most recent incursion of development into the area, concerning signs have emerged that the human scale and character of the area is being eroded.

<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_4301.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Morning light enhances a stunning view"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="870" src="/sites/urbanmelbourne.info/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/Img_4301.jpg?itok=1derKPZk" title="Morning light enhances a stunning view" width="580"></a>

<a href="http://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/arts-and-entertainment/article/guildford-lane-art-precinct" target="_blank">Broadsheet</a> describes the area's heart, Guildford Lane (symptomatic of the entire area) as follows:

<blockquote>
Guildford Lane is a collection of two-story buildings reminiscent of the Melbourne of yore with a sprinkling of the urban contemporary added for good measure. Quaint buildings decorated with haphazard graffiti offer very little indication of visual arts treasures that hide behind their red-brick facade. Towering skyscrapers menace overhead as an ode to the varying layers of history – past and present – that reside there. It’s almost as though some inception-style architect has manufactured the view. Old-world it may be, but it is also fast becoming the nucleus for Melbourne’s visual arts. Here’s a rundown of the galleries you may encounter should you decide to take a trip down this charming side street.
</blockquote>

I feel a skerrick of discomfort highlighting the impending plight of this area over others such as The Palace redevelopment or neighbouring Windsor Hotel, yet I do traverse the are quite often; as much a relaxing break from the excesses of the CBD as a shortcut from A to B.  Having said that I am pro development so readers may argue an element of hypocrisy is present in this article - regardless this one precast wall has raised my ire, for it may be representative if what is in store.

Let's explore why the monotone precast street level facade located to the rear of the recently finished Melbourne Sky development is totally abysmal.  I'd contend development in this area is reasonable given it's bound to the perimeter of the block, leaving the heart of the precinct unblemished - but this is no reason to deliver half-arsed public realm outcomes in such a sensitive area.  Externals to both Little Lonsdale and La Trobe are entitled to present in a modern manner, yet the inward facing (particularly street level) facades should respect their surrounds - surely a reasonable assumption?

Not only is there a total lack of respect relative to the immediate surrounds via a black precast wall, there's also total inactivation and a complete lack of imagination - it is in every way disappointing!  

So who can be attributed with this blunder?  From the outside it seems an abject failure in planning for ultimate responsibility and enforcement lies here.  Architects and developers do what they do, yet both local and state planning bodies missed a trick here by not requesting the rear of Melbourne Sky be improved.  At the very least a simple wrap of recycled brickwork over the site's precast derriere facing Sutherland Street and McLean Alley would have been a cheap, innocuous outcome that would have at least attempted to meld with its heritage surrounds.

<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/Image1_51.jpg" rel="gallery-all" style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;" title="Intended art wall. Image © Rothe Lowman"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="343" src="/sites/urbanmelbourne.info/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/Image1_51.jpg?itok=E9fnFBCo" title="Intended art wall. Image © Rothe Lowman" width="580"></a>

Am I overreacting to this one precast wall - possibly, but consider the four upcoming developments fronting La Trobe Street;  <a href="/buildings/eporo-tower-279-la-trobe-street-melbourne" target="_blank">Eporo Tower</a>, <a href="/buildings/the-carlson-321-la-trobe-street-melbourne" target="_blank">321 La Trobe Street</a>, <a href="/buildings/la-trobe-tower-323-la-trobe-street-melbourne" target="_blank">323 La Trobe Street </a>and <a href="/buildings/paragon-318-queen-street-melbourne">Celtic Tower</a> all also back onto the warehouse precinct.  Granted early designs for 321 La Trobe Street included an art wall at the sites rear (seen above), but the prospect of having the finer grain of this precinct repeatedly punctuated by average planning and even worst street level facades is evidently very real.  

Areas such as this intricate warehouse precinct are not a dime a dozen through Melbourne's CBD and therefore are worthy of respect and much thought when approving new developments within its realm.  Based on the initial outcome, it can only get better...

 

Not familiar with the area?  Open the images below to gain a greater understanding of the precinct
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