Southbank Apartment Tower Gets Green Light

There’s been a mix of good news and bad in Southbank recently, with one major apartment tower approved, while another has been temporarily shelved.

Developer Central Equity, which can hold itself responsible for a boom in the number of high rise apartment towers to come out of the ground in Southbank a decade ago, is proposing a $100 million, 43-level residential building at 180 City Road. Marketing started earlier this month.

Meanwhile sources say developer Banco has temporarily shelved plans to build three apartments on a site it owns at nearby 99 Kavanagh Street. Building of that tower was expected to start later this year.

Despite a recovery in the apartment market, insiders say investors have been slow to warm to Southbank after high vacancy levels resulted in years of bad publicity.

“Southbank is no longer the darling it was ten years ago,” said one agent who wished to remain anonymous. “It spent about five years recovering from an oversupply of apartments, and in the meantime Docklands has taken off and the St Kilda Road and CBD have experienced renewed interest.”

“I think there’s a real perception that the non-riverfront sections of Southbank lacks a culture that other inner city areas do at the moment.”

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