Revealed: The Block’s new Melbourne location
Hit renovating show The Block will shift to one of Melbourne’s most exclusive suburbs, and if the plans are approved, it would be a major change for the popular reality show.
Fiona Byrne
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The Block is on the move to one of Melbourne’s most exclusive suburbs — with a hefty $15 million price tag to match.
The 16th edition of the hit renovating series is expected to be set in Brighton, a bayside suburb of stately mansions, celebrities and the wealthy elite.
The 2020 season of the show will see new homes built on the vacant land at 360 New St, Brighton, which a company owned by Channel 9 quietly bought this month. It is the same company they used to purchase the Gatwick Hotel and The Oslo backpacker hostel in St Kilda.
Early indications suggest the show plans to subdivide the land and build five homes with works estimated at $4.5 million.
The land, which was previously home to an aged care residence, has been vacant since 2014.
Previous owners had applied to develop 13 three-storey townhouses on the site. An application for a planning permit has been lodged with the Bayside Council.
If the plans are approved it would be the first ground-up project The Block has taken on.
In 2017 the series used a vacant lot in Elsternwick but trucked in old homes to fill the site.
The Block has invested heavily in the Melbourne property market in recent years, paying $10 million for the Gatwick Hotel and $10.8 million for The Oslo backpacker hostel, both in St Kilda.
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The Oslo series of The Block will launch on Nine next month and will chart the extreme makeover of the rundown hostel.
The property has been transformed from a seedy dump into five three-storey homes that honour the property’s historic past.
The property, on a 1353sq m block, was originally built in 1859 as five stately homes. Fast forward to 2018 and it was in disarray as a tatty hostel charging $18 a night for rooms.
Channel 9 was approached for comment on the location of the next season of The Block.
The location is yet to be confirmed.
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