Sofia’s Camberwell proposal rejected at VCAT
The owners of Sofia’s restaurant in Camberwell have been sent back to the drawing board, with their controversial plan to redevelop the site into apartments rejected again. Here’s why.
Inner East
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The owners of Sofia’s restaurant in Camberwell have been ordered back to the drawing board after VCAT knocked back yet another development plan for the site.
Various applications have been made for the dilapidated State Savings Bank building and neighbouring Sofia’s restaurant on Burke Rd over the years, with developers, Boroondara Council, the tribunal and residents failing to agree on a mutually acceptable proposal.
Tribunal members Joel Templar and Ann Keddie said the most recent plan for a seven-storey mixed use structure plus a basement carpark were “not too dissimilar” from plans previously proposed by Sofia’s restaurant owners the Raydan brothers in 2017 and rejected by the tribunal and the council.
They also noted the council received 38 community objections to the current plans.
“In summary, we are not persuaded that the proposed built form adequately responds to the issues identified in the previous decision,” they noted.
A number of applications have been made for the Burke Rd location over the past two decades, with a company called Omiros One first winning approval to develop the State Savings Bank and neighbouring Sofia’s restaurant in 1999.
Back then the proposal was for a hotel and restaurant, but over the years the application changed, seeing Omiros One seek to increase the hotel’s size, and then Raydan Restaurant Enterprises, the current owner of the site, seek permission for a hotel and restaurant, residential apartments, and now a mixed use structure including a wine bar, restaurant, apartments and a cafe.
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Current plans for the mixed use building proposal have been watered down since they were first proposed, dropping from nine-storeys to seven including a basement carpark.
Some applications were approved by the council or the tribunal over the years, but as the developer’s ambitions for the site changed, so did the plans, and further applications were needed.
In handing down their decision last month (September), Mr Templar and Ms Keddie said the site was suited to development, but the “upper level bulk” of the proposal was an issue and needed to be scaled back.
Sofia’s Camberwell did not return the Progress Leader’s request for comment.