Maroondah Hwy Ringwood: 300+ apartments planned for Genesis gym, Rivers site
If you think Ringwood is busy enough, wait until you see the plans for a former nightclub to make way for hundreds of apartments.
Outer East
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A mega-development that would be home to more than 600 people is the latest high-rise being planned for booming Ringwood.
Plans to build more than 330 apartments and townhouses over 12 storeys are being considered by Maroondah Council at 93-97 Maroondah Highway.
The L-shaped corner site covers land along the highway, Seymour St and Market St.
It is home to the Genesis gym facing Seymour St and a Rivers Store facing the highway, and was also the former home of Jooce nightclub in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Real estate agents told Leader earlier this year the site sold to a Singapore-based developer for $13.5m in late 2020, but planning documents show the applicant is Doncaster-based developer Staley Properties.
The developer lodged its plans with the council in April, which recently went on public advertising and are now classified as “under assessment” on the council’s planning website.
It wants to build two separate towers, containing one, two and three bedroom apartments and 11 townhouses.
A pedestrian laneway between the two towers is also proposed, along with space for a gym, cafes and retail on the ground level, with three levels of carparking underneath.
In its proposal, the developers said the anticipated 630 residents at the complex would be “a significant and important injection of residents to the Ringwood centre”, and predicted they would deliver a $10m annual boost to the local economy.
“Given the proximity and wide choice of retailing in the Ringwood centre, an estimated 55 per cent of the total spending capacity of new residents (or $5.35 million) is likely to be directed to Ringwood retailers,” they wrote.
“This project will be part of a significant transformation of a major urban corridor to a major satellite CBD.”
Members of the Ringwood and District Historical Society were angered by the plans in a discussion on its Facebook page, with some holding concerns about the impact of parking in the area with Ringwood Square Shopping Centre and Costco nearby.
The cost of the proposed project, the number of objections received and a decision date for the project is unclear.
Maroondah Council has been contacted for comment.
The five biggest residential and business towers pitched for Ringwood:
EastCo
116-122 Maroondah Highway, opposite Eastland.
11-storey commercial building which will be home to VicRoads and the Department of Transport.
Status: Under construction, tipped to open early 2022.
Ringwood Residences
301 Maroondah Highway
14-storey mixed-use tower with Holiday Inn hotel and boutique apartments
Status: Construction yet to begin
East End
28-30 Maroondah Highway
Changes are being made to the proposed three-tower project, which was originally planned to have apartments, a town square, retail, co-working space and a boutique AC Marriott hotel. One of the towers was planned to reach 19-storeys and apartment sales were paused at the start of 2021.
Status: Unclear
Unknown
293-295 Maroondah Highway
A permit for a 10-storey mixed-use tower approved by Maroondah Council was sold to an unknown developer in late 2019.
Status: Unclear
Genesis gym and Rivers corner site
93-97 Maroondah Highway
Proposed 12-storey building with 330 apartments and ground level retail under consideration by Maroondah Council.
Status: To be confirmed
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