Hyde Park complex approved for Unley Rd, will become area’s tallest building
A KEY Hyde Park site will be transformed with a seven-storey apartment complex — the tallest building on Unley Rd — after it and a neighbouring building were approved.
A KEY Hyde Park site will be transformed with a seven-storey apartment complex — the tallest building on Unley Rd — under plans approved by the State Government’s planning panel.
The State Commission Assessment Panel (SCAP) last week signed off on plans by developers Citify and Bert Farina Constructions for the complex — to be known as Hyde Park Place — at 248-252 Unley Rd, on the corner of Opey Ave.
The development will include 59 apartments, five commercial tenancies and six two-storey townhouses.
Another seven-storey development is approved for the neighbouring site and, together, they will become the tallest buildings on Unley Rd.
During public consultation on the development, four people raised concerns, including with the development’s height, density, parking provisions, increased traffic, “inconvenience during building” and “change of suburb character”.
In a formal submission to the SCAP, one Opey Ave resident said the height of the building “made a mockery of (Unley Council’s) development plan”. That plan sets the maximum height limit in the area at five storeys.
“While I recognise the need to renew properties along the Unley Rd corridor, I believe that this building is simply too tall,” the resident’s submission said.
A Hart Ave resident’s submission described the building as an “overdevelopment of the site”.
“This is exemplified by the apartment sizes, particularly the studio apartments; the stacked carparking; minimal vehicle manoeuvring areas and numerous variances with (Unley) Council’s Development Plan,” the submission said.
However, the developers said the building was lower than that approved for the adjacent site.
They also said the traffic generated by the development was “unlikely to have (an) adverse effect on surrounding road network” and that the building would “contribute in a positive manner to the desired character of the … area”.
An initial report presented to the SCAP said the building would “create a generous transition between the urban corridor and residential zones”.
Last year, Chinese developers Xinyu International abandoned plans to redevelop the same two sites into a seven-storey, $80 million apartment complex.
Despite gaining development consent from the then-Development Assessment Commission, the developers dropped the plans after they missed a deadline to start construction.
