New skyscraper plan looms over popular graffiti themed laneway
Landream has quietly sold neighbouring sites near the top of town – ending plans for a 40 storey, 267 unit build to rent project, with joint venture partner, Alt Living.
Instead, the buyer, Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management, has applied to build an even denser residential tower, with 1013 student accommodation units over 39 floors,
The 1696 square metre amalgamation contains two offices: 96-102 Franklin St, with the c1850s five storey Burbank House, and Association House at #104-106.
The latter property, developed in 1926 over three levels, has a 50.5 metre frontage to Blender Lane – considered one of the city’s best street-art themed laneways, also one of its most photographed.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Oliver Hay, Daniel Wolman and Leon Ma are understood to have brokered the Brookfield deal.
1013 units, no car parks
Approved by VCAT in late 2022, Landream’s proposal, penned by Cox Architecture, also included offices, ground floor retail, 213 bike storage bays, seven car parks and a basketball court.
Brookfield will retain the retail – about 415 sqm according to an application this year (story continues below).
It will however seek fewer bike storage spaces – 172 – and no car parks; the site is walking distance to Melbourne Central station and several tram routes.
If approved, there would be one fewer BTR project to compete with for Lendlease, which is proposing 560 units on part of Gurrowa Place, a $1.7 billion redevelopment of part of the Queen Victoria Market car park (that development also plans for 1100 student accommodation units).
Mirvac also holds an asset of this type at 101 Therry St, near 96-106 Franklin.
Under its Liv brand, with 490 apartments over 38 floors, it cost $333.5m on a funds through basis with PDG Corporation five years ago.
The project forms part of the ‘Munro’ site, which the City of Melbourne bought in 2014 from the Munro family, which held it for decades.
CoM sold the component which made way for Liv Munro (101 Therry St) to PDG as part of a deal which included the latter developing publicly owned retail and community product.
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