Moonlight Receptions development: Squatters invade prime Fitzroy North real estate

Squatters have overrun a derelict reception at a prime inner-city location, causing safety concerns within the community.

Inside Moonlight Receptions former grand entrance. Supplied.

Residents fear a derelict Fitzroy North reception centre pencilled in for a $140m overhaul has been overrun by squatters.

Homeless people are understood to be nestling at the abandoned Moonlight Receptions Centre despite repeated attempts to block access to the prime Nicholson St site.

The Herald Sun witnessed police attend the site while contactors engaged by building’s owner boarded upfront and rear entry points.

Yarra Council signs warding off squatters have been placed at the building’s main entry points.

A contractor, who said his crew was often called to the site, said it was “pointless” reboarding main entrance.

The contractor said he had to wait while police checked to see if people were inside the building before it could be boarded up and secured.

The reboarded entrance was busted down again and left open for months until it was recently resecured.

A steel barrier was also installed in the latest attempt to reinforce the entrance but shrewd squatters have found new ways into the building.

Earlier this month a glass door at a secondary entrance was smashed in and remains open and easily accessible.

The main entrance has since been boarded up.

A glass door was smashed open in the past two weeks.

Multiple residents claimed squatters entered the “death trap” building late at night and left early in the morning.

Other residents claimed to have seen squatters sleeping on the front steps.

Local Lauren Bickley said the Moonlight squatters were the “worst-kept secret in Fitzroy North”.

“I always see dodgy-looking people at night, who seem to be squatting in the old building (Moonlight Receptions) at the end of the street,” Ms Bickley said.

“I’ve seen people sleep on the door step and there was a tent set up in the back alley at one stage.

“I personally haven’t had any trouble but it’s probably better for everyone if people aren’t squatting in old buildings.”

Ms Bickley added she was “unsure” if there was a “homelessness or hipster” issue in the area

“Most blokes in North Fitzroy are bearded and filthy,” she said.

A smashed window near the public sidewalk.

A Yarra Council sign posted at the site.

Local mother Jo said a permanent solution needed to be found until the site can be redeveloped.

“It’s not just for our safety but for the safety of the people who have to sleep rough in what I can only imagine is a dangerous building,” Jo said.

“You only have to walk past it and see it's a death trap … half broken windows … what if they fall and hit someone walking past.

“I’m sure (the issue will end) when the redevelopment starts but hopefully a safe solution can be found (before then).”

The once bustling reception centre site is part of a growing concrete wilderness stretching along Nicholson St between Hoddle St and Brunswick Rd.

Multiple empty shopfronts now litter the former bustling shopping precinct.

Yarra’s squatter and homeless issue isn’t confined to the Moonlight Receptions site.

Homeless living in tents at nearby Edinburgh Gardens — and in cars and vans around the park — has been an ongoing issue since at least the middle of last year.

Edinburgh Gardens toilets are also being locked at night and notices which inform where homeless can seek help and shelter have been placed inside.

Yarra Council moved on a close-knit group of rough sleepers who had sheltered at the Brunswick City Oval grandstand in May last year.

Signs warding off squatters, similar to those at Moonlight, have been plastered at the grandstand and access to the stand been fenced off due to “safety concerns”.

Outside the graffiti strewn Nicholson St site.

Redevelopment work at the site must commence within three years of its approval.

Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Jenny Smith said jobs loss due to the Covid-19 pandemic had increased homelessness in the area.

“The high cost of rents, inadequate income support, the end of rental moratoriums, and continued high unemployment because of Covid, are pushing people into homelessness — many for the first time,” she said.

“Everyone needs to have a home but there isn’t enough social housing to meet need.

“The ederal government needs to lead a process with the states to build more social housing. The rate of Jobseeker also needs to be increased so people can afford rent.

“The state government is doing its bit with the From Homelessness to a Home program and the Big Housing Build … the federal government needs to step up too.”

Yarra Council has the fourth highest rate of homelessness for any Victorian municipality, according to the council’s 2020 homeless strategy.

In January, welfare agencies reported a spike in rough sleepers on CBD streets as more homeless people left hotel accommodation provided during the pandemic.

“When police become aware of areas of concern with the community, we task officers to proactively patrol these locations to ensure all members of the community not only are safe, but they also feel safe,” A Victoria Police spokesman said.

Yarra Council knocked back the original plans to redevelop the site but the decision was overturned on appeal at VCAT in August 2019.

The multistorey office and residential development has also been approved to include a medical centre, a bottle shop and a supermarket.

VCAT ordered the project must commence within three years of approval and be completed within five years.