Where Footscray's future 8,000 apartments will be located
Footscray's latest apartment tower headed for approval has given cause to assess where exactly the bulk of apartments can be expected within the boom suburb in the years to come.
Much of the development spotlight falls upon Joseph Road Precinct, with the latest development landing on its western boundary. 7 Wightman Street was recommended for approval earlier this month after a revised application saw its height cut to 14 levels.
The Metaxas Architects-designed tower is likely for a 735 square metre site and could add a further 57 apartments and commercial space to the precinct which to date has approval for 3,786 apartments and an affordable living building at 6 Neilson Place consisting of 60 dwellings.
Originally submitted during March 2017, approval was sought for the delivery of an 18 level building consisting of 85 dwellings. In its revised form the tower is near on 60 metres in height and includes 16 one bedroom, 36 two bedrooms and 5 three bedroom apartments.
Adding 7 Wightman Street to all approved developments within the designated urban renewal area thus far, future residents will be spread over nine developments, consisting of 22 separate towers. The tallest is approved at 32 levels, whilst Growland has the highest number of towers in a singular development at 6.
Limited further suitable development land within Joseph Road Precinct suggests it will max out somewhere beyond 4,000 apartments.
Conversely 35 additional apartment and townhouse projects of varying sizes constitute the balance of projects Urban.com.au is tracking in Footscray outside of Joseph Road Precinct.
These 35 projects stand to add a further 4,155 higher density dwellings to Footscray's residential stock. The majority of these projects spread across the balance of Footscray are small in stature and hold between 12-30 apartments; there are some notable exceptions though.
Biggest of all is R&F Property Australia's Live City - Kinnears site development which is slated for 1,400 apartments, and is ably supported by future developments such as Cowper Residences and Napier Street in terms of size.
With Joseph Road Precinct approaching capacity and smaller apartment projects dotting Footscray's periphery, future developments of notable size will for the most be confined to the Barkly Street/Droop Street axis and super sites such as Banco Group's 1.4 hectare former Ryco plot at 11-19 Whitehall Street.
The scheme by JAM Architects (seen below) located on Donald Street just behind Droop Street is one such example of the scale of projects Footscray's core cane expect in the years to come.
