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Former Royal Saxon Hotel, Melbourne, May be Replaced With Major Apartment Tower

ANOTHER proposal has been lodged that is so large that decision-making power bypasses council to rest with Planning Minister Matthew Guy.

This time, on land behind the historic former Royal Saxon Hotel at 441-447 Elizabeth Street, and affecting an adjoining property at 449 Elizabeth Street, a developer plans to develop a 50-level residential tower with 306 flats but just 119 car park bays.

The property was recently identified in the Melbourne City Council’s central heritage review as worthy of protection, being one of the oldest surviving buildings of its type.

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Outgoing Pakenham Racecourse and Showgrounds Site Close to Sale For Circa $30 Million

SIXTEEN months after it first hit the market, the outgoing Pakenham Racecourse and Showgrounds site is believed to have found a buyer.

Well placed industry sources say the vendor, the Pakenham Racing Club, is set to pocket about $30 million from the sale of the 25.85 hectare property, which abuts the Pakenham train station, about 55 kilometres south-east of town.

The estimated sale price is far less than the reported $38 million developer The Corcoris Group agreed to pay for the site early last year, before withdrawing from the transaction in September.

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Skinny Skyscraper to Replace Historic La Trobe Street Building, Melbourne

IT’S not just developers pushing Melbourne’s planning limits.

Entrepreneurs who earn their living outside of real estate are also dreaming up the city’s next landmark towers – cashing in on Melbourne’s trifecta of a booming population, the need to create construction jobs and a so-called collapse in housing affordability.

This time, at 36 – 40 La Trobe Street, lawyer and migration agent Konfir Kabo is proposing to demolish the historic low-rise GMK House building and replace it with one of Melbourne’s skinniest residential skyscrapers.

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Melbourne Planning Landscape Changed Forever Because of Melbourne 2030 Policy

TWO disused bowling alleys, north and south of the Yarra River, give an indication of how fast planning attitudes have reformed, as architects, developers and planners maximised the former government’s redundant Melbourne @ 5 Million planning strategy.

In Mentone, some 21 kilometres south of the CBD, council has just rejected plans to replace the Mentone Bowl site with a 170-unit residential village topped by two towers of eight and 12 levels.

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Apartment Skyscraper to Replace Low Rise Office at the Top of Melbourne CBD

THE new owners of a small office building at 315-321 La Trobe Street – near the popular Celtic Club at the top of town – have wasted no time seeking a redevelopment application.

The building was for 25 years the headquarters of law firm Tisher Liner & Co, which relocated to Queen Street after selling its La Trobe Street offices to the developers for a speculated $4 million last September.

Having lobbied immediately (and unsuccessfully) to build a 33-level tower on the small 300 square metre block, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has instead granted the new owners approval for a 22-level building rising 65 metres.

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