A $400 million luxury apartment project backed by Rich Lister James Packer will kick off construction next year after developer Orchard Piper successfully appealed the council’s decision to cut out two storeys.

The project on the site of the former Mercedes-Benz car dealership on Carters Avenue – just down the road from Toorak Village in Melbourne’s most expensive suburb – will now rise to the originally proposed eight levels and will feature 43 premium apartments designed to appeal to wealthy local downsizers as well as offices, restaurants and shops.