Bayley Stuart director Alasdair MacGillivray, who sold the asset with Andrew MacGillvray,  said the sale price translated to a healthy land rate of $3487 per square metre. He said developers were attracted to the Mixed Use zoning, and the fact the is not restricted by height controls. Also showing an interest he said were medical related fund managers, private investors and syndicates.

Just two months ago Mr Wain and Mr Murchie were awarded a settlement by the Supreme Court of Victoria following their famous corporate divorce from Drapac in 2009. The court noted the directors played an important part growing the global Drapac, which as well as developing became notorious within the industry for land banking major sites in upcoming areas.

Last year Forza paid $14 million for the iSelect headquarters, and an adjoining 4900 square metre development site in the south-east suburb of Cheltenham, 20 kilometres from town.

Lume will include three towers ranging in height from four to six levels around the block bound by Cemetery Road East, Cardigan, Keppell and Swanston streets.

Upon completion Lume will include 148 flats, more than a third of which will be allocated as public housing.

Lume will also include 111 car parks.

The new development comes 18 months after Housing Minister Richard Wynn granted the same consortium permission to replace low-rise commission flats in Carlton, with Viva – a $260 million public housing-based project that, like Lume, private investors could buy into.

Australand is also building a $160 million, 18-hectare public housing based village for the government in Westmeadows, near Melbourne Airport.

Another ambitious commission-flat based project spreads over two suburbs in the south-east: Ashwood and Chadstone, and includes 280 dwellings in six towers.

About 75 per cent of units in that $140 million Ashwood Chadstone Gateway project will be allocated as public housing.

Savills selling agent Clinton Baxter, who is marketing the site with Ryan McCormack and M3 Property Strategists, confirmed interest has come from residential developers, as well as owner occupiers.

The site is near the corner of Spencer and Collins streets, once a forgotten part of the CBD, but recently undergoing a resurgence, as the $12 billion Docklands rejuvenation takes shape.

Earlier this week, a 1011 square metre apartment development site formerly owned by Drapac on the corner of Victoria and Leicester streets in Carlton sold for $10 million to a developer with Asian links, and with a permit for a 19-level, 214-unit apartment tower.

South Pacific managing director Mr Mark Feiglin said the student market was a strong investment opportunity into the future with the total number of international students in Australian universities expected to grow from 188,400 to 996,000 by 2025.

“The Design Hub is indicative of the high level of technical expertise and specialised skills Watpac possesses, which have been responsible for the successful completion of a range of projects for a varied clientele along the eastern seaboard.

“We are excited to deliver such an innovative project, building on our environmental credentials, and allowing the talents of our Watpac staff to be showcased in such a prominent location on Melbourne’s civic access.”

The Design Hub will house RMIT’s diverse range of design initiatives, design research groups and post-graduate programs, with multi-disciplinary teams working across a range of disciplines including textile and fashion design, architecture, industrial design, landscape architecture, urban design, engineering, fine art and creative media.

The 12,000m2 building will comprise two basement levels and eight levels above street level, and will contain research, lecture, and exhibition spaces.
The landmark project is registered for a Green Star rating under the Green Building Council of Australia’s Education V1 rating tool, and includes a range of environmentally sustainable design features.

Designed by leading Melbourne architect Sean Godsell with Peddle Thorp, the building will feature a climatically responsive ‘smart skin’ comprised of 16,000 sand-blasted glass cells, which will track the sun via the building computer automation system to help shade and power the building.

Additional environmentally sustainable features include an under floor air distribution system, rain and waste water harvesting, an internal waste management system, extensive energy metering and display of live energy data, as well as careful selection of all building materials to minimise the building’s environmental impact.

Work is expected to start on site immediately with completion scheduled for mid-2011.

This project builds on the significant number of Green Star-rated projects undertaken by Watpac, as well as a large number of projects completed for the research and education sectors.

In Queensland, Watpac is currently building the $361 million Knowledge Based Research and Business Project, involving offices, laboratories, and specialist research facilities, including facilities for 200 scientists.

In New South Wales, Watpac was recently awarded the $80 million Cochlear Global Headquarters construction contract at Macquarie University, and the $50 million Woolworths Data Centre project.

Another image of the CUB Carlton development:

The property, which has rear access to Berkeley Street is expected to make way for an apartment village, likely to be developed in conjunction with a private developer. The project is speculated to have an end value of more than $50 million.

The Elizabeth Street site has traded as the Timber Hardware Exchange for years, and was offloaded by Ridgeway Plumbing director Phil Ridgeway.

It’s understood the site which was for sale off-market, attracted interest from private developers to unlisted property developers, who could build apartments, offices, retail showrooms – or a mixture of all three. One option, said to be worth around $7.5 million, just lapsed when the government swooped in with its $8.5 million offer, sources say.