Box Hill BP petrol station to become 36-storey tower
The skyline of Melbourne’s second CBD will get a massive boost with a new 141m tower to house hundreds of apartments, office space and a car showroom.
East
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The latest addition to booming Box Hill will be a 141m tower combining apartments, offices and retail.
Whitehorse Council approved the plans for the 36-storey tower — to replace a petrol station and car wash at 843 Whitehorse Rd — having previously rejected other proposals of much smaller scales, with councillors saying the building will represent a new standard of development in the suburb dubbed “Melbourne’s second CBD’’.
The tower will go up on a 1972sq m site within the suburb’s hospital and TAFE precinct.
It will include 276 apartments, almost 3000sq m of office space and 2443sq m of retail space, including a car showroom.
Levels four and five will be dedicated to residents’ recreation, where a pool, sauna, gym, hot yoga studio, library, cinema and dining rooms will be located.
The land was bought for $22.55 million in August 2017 by developer Longriver.
Cr Blair Barker, who has previously been scathing of Box Hill high-rise developments, said this was a “very, very high-quality building’’.
“This makes a very clear statement of what the great City of Whitehorse expects from big buildings in Box Hill.
“It puts a line in the sand.”
Cr Barker said the building, designed by architect Fender Katsalidis, would offer the “highest amenity” to residents and would contribute to the nearby area, rather than detract from it.
Cr Andrew Davenport he thought the high number of three-bedroom apartments would attract families to the development.
The building will offer 164 two-bedroom apartments, 110 three-bedroom apartments and two four-bedroom apartments.
It will include 376 carparking spaces and more than 100 bicycle spaces across eight basement levels, where electrical car-charging stations will also be installed.
Cr Barker said the council had also importantly imposed a condition that would mean the building’s surface would not be so reflective that it would not give off glare and distract drivers.
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When the plans for the building were advertised for feedback last year Whitehorse Council received seven objections, with complainants saying it would be an overdevelopment, would cause parking and traffic issues, would cause glare from its external surface and would have noise impacts.
At 141m, the building will technically be taller than Melbourne’s tallest suburban tower Sky One, which stands 122m in Box Hill’s centre.
But Cr Barker said the topography of the land meant the new building would not have the actual height and prominence of Sky One.
The council’s approval of the building comes after VCAT issued a permit for a 13-storey tower just down the road at 811 Whitehorse Rd, Mont Albert, earlier this month, overruling the council’s decision to reject the plan.
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