NIMBYs Might Win Fight Against Major Brunswick Proposal, Melbourne

THE Moreland City Council and developers are battling against the clock to get a contentious Brunswick project out of the ground before mid-2012, when the permit expires, and resident concerns regarding the proposal must then be heard.

The 284 – 294 Albert Street block was the subject of a dispute last June when Brisbane-based owner Citimark proposed a $100 million apartment compound with three towers rising between 10 and 14-levels (impression, right).

Citimark relied on a development overlay introduced in 1994 and specifically for the construction of a supermarket, next door, to bypass third-party appeal rights for its major proposal.

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Top Melbourne Suburbs to Invest, For Budgets of Less Than $500,000

Flemington Post OfficeMELBOURNE’s once booming real-estate market has finally decelerated – and for the first time in a long time, buyers are calling the shots.

If you have a secure job, low debt and a will to own real estate – banks, developers and the Government want to talk.

But a word of advice: if you do take the plunge, spend what you can afford, rather than the maximum amount you can borrow.

Saturday Domain talks to some experts on which suburbs you should look at, no matter what your budget:

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Tony Mokbel’s Former Brunswick Mansion Hits The Rental Market

DIEHARD underbelly fans can live a piece of the underworld lifestyle, with Tony Mokbel’s former family home, in Brunswick, quietly hitting the rental market.

The five bedroom mansion at 9 – 11 Downs Street (pictured, right) was offered for sale early last year, but the listing, nor sale – which settled earlier this year – could be reported because of a recently lifted suppression order.

The new owners are asking $1300 per week for the double-storey home which police believe Mokbel funded through drug activities. The registered owner while he occupied the home was Mokbel’s sister-in-law, Renate.
Ownership of the Brunswick property was transferred to the Attorney General of Victoria in late 2009, under the Confiscation Act 1997.

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Tontine Pillow Site, Brunswick, to be Replaced With Major Shopping Centre

MELBOURNE’s next major shopping centre will be developed in Brunswick East, after a prominent 1.9 hectare factory, formerly occupied by Tontine Pillows, sold to developers.

The site at 127 – 137 Nicholson Street was listed by receivers for the Letten Group of companies, and sold to the Melbourne-based Banco Group, a representative of which was unavailable for comment.

Banco is believed to have paid $15 million for the huge Brunswick East site, which also has frontage to John, Gamble and Rickard streets, offering flexible and mixed-use redevelopment approval. Any sale to Banco would follow a $20 million purchase of the Footscray Plaza shopping centre in February.

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