Fishermans Bend tower count now at 29
Whilst Premier Denis Napthine and Planning Minister Matthew Guy were releasing/spruiking the Fishermans Bend urban renewal Area Draft Vision during mid September, further planning applications were arriving at state planning body DPCD's offices for consideration. September has seen a further three applications seeking their place within Fishermans Bend, with the total number of towers seeking the green light now at an impressive 29. Today Urban.com.au brings images of two additional projects
Gibson Property Corporation have recently loaded limited images of 2-4 Buckhurst Street, South Melbourne onto their website. A combination of the Westgate Freeway, MECC and the Whiteman Street tram reserve have conspired to maintain excellent sight lines for future residents should this design of exceptional quality gain planning approval.
Quoting from the company's website, "GPC have been engaged to provide consultancy services to seek a Planning Permit for a new mixed-use residential development. The development is situated in the heart of South Melbourne, lining Gladstone and Ferrars Streets and is within metres of the Port Melbourne/City Light Rail. The project will consist of 2 residential towers of 35 levels comprising 1,2 and 3 bedroom apartments with a mix of retail and commercial premises on the ground floor. The development has the potential for 400 apartments."
Seen below is a render for the intended replacement for Carlins Automotive Auctioneers located at 6-78 Buckhurst Street, South Melbourne.Covering an area of 9277 square metres, the four tower complex will be delivered in stages with the initial western 37 level residential tower to be delivered first according to plans devised by architecture firm Rothe Lowman.
An excerpt from 6-78 Buckhurst Street's planning application reads as follows: "The future vision for our site and its greater precinct is a diverse, inclusive and well serviced community with a strong sense of local identity coupled with improved linkages both within the precinct and to the CBD. We see a variety of end users being accommodated by the proposed development, with both investors and owner occupiers being attracted to our proposal".
A variety of apartment sizes and types will ensure appeal to a broad section of the community, the Buckhurst St residential development will assist in creating a strong benchmark in high quality design for future developments in the Montague area.
More on these and other Fishermans Bend planning applications to follow.
The apartment yield to date from the 29 proposed apartment towers with Fishermans Bend stands at approximately 8400 with the potential to soak up near 20,000 new residents. The state government through their Draft Vision and Design Guidelines plan have targeted 80,000 new residents for the 250ha urban renewal area upon completion. If all these towers were to be realised (as unlikely as it is), roughly one quarter of Fishermans Bend's total envisaged final population would be accommodated within an area that covers roughly 20-30ha of the overall development.
Based upon submitted planning applications either the overall Fishermans Bend population will comfortably exceed the targeted 80,000 should the now submitted and future applications hold sway or intended developments may have to be scaled back to meet the expectations of the recently released Vision. Clearly some teething issues are presenting themselves within Fishermans Bend where the expectations of developers and those bodies charged with delivering the project have not met as yet.
With this in mind resident rendering machine Laurence Dragomir will be one of five keynote speakers during Urban.com.au's upcoming presentation at Melbourne Knowledge Week. To be held on the evening of Friday 1st November, Laurence will deliver to a 200-strong audience of government representatives, architects, developers, industry figures and the general public a presentation which will include the only renders/video of all proposed towers within the Fishermans Bend area, whilst also exploring a number of pertinent challenges the area faces - further details and ticketing information for the event to be announced shortly.