New Phone App Describes Evolving History of Melbourne’s Yarra River

Melbourne's Yarra RiverPLANNING history and residential property development appear prominently in a new multimedia initiative released this month by the Melbourne City Council.

Transforming the Yarra is a walking tour application which examines the evolution of Melbourne’s Yarra River precinct since the 1980s, and after the Cain-Labor State government released a strategy to make it Melbourne’s central focus.

The application, which is downloaded as an MP3 file for mobile phones, or as an audio stream from the web, discusses urban design and architectural principles adopted at various riverfront sites.

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Melbourne’s Riverside About to Undergo Apartment Building Boom

RIVERSIDE Kew and Hawthorn residents share a phenomenon with Williamstown and Footscray residents – whereby eyesore factories on prime waterfront sites are tolerated because “they are better than flats”.

While remediation may prevent redevelopment of some western suburb industrial sites, however, plans are advanced to build new residential villages on former commercial blocks along the Yarra River, and particularly in Abbotsford.

Macquarie Capital is the latest developer to capitalise on the imminent riverside building boom, offering for sale a 5264 square metre block at 16 Flockhart Street with a permit for a 310 unit skyscraper village within a 12-storey complex (pictured, right).

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Australand to Sell Riverfront Site Near Victoria Park Stadium

AUSTRALAND is selling a 4000 square metre inner-city development site, wedged between Collingwood Football Club’s Victoria Park stadium, and the Yarra River.

The Abbotsford property at 80 – 110 Trenerry Crescent, will be sold with a permit for a nine-level residential building, with 94 units.

Australand has already developed townhouses on part of the site, which is near Dights Falls, and next to the prominent Australian Education Union Victorian Branch offices.

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Hamton, ISPT Forge With Plans to Develop $200 Million Riverfront Village, Abbotsford

THE development consortium which bought three low-rise offices on the banks of the Yarra River, is forging ahead with plans to demolish two of the buildings, and replace the space with a $200 million residential village.
 
Developers Hamton and Industry Superannuation Property Trust have started marketing apartments at 677 – 679 Victoria Street, opposite the Victoria Gardens shopping centre in Abbotsford, at the suburb border of Kew and Hawthorn.

The developers are reported to have paid Becton about $30 million for the office complex late last year, outmuscling traditional property investors sniffing the market out at the time for good bargains.

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