Builders, developers who have taken over Melbourne’s city skyline and suburbs

Small players are taking on big boy developers in Melbourne’s construction game. Here’s who’s who in our concrete jungle.

Family-owned and private companies are taking on the big boys of development for the mantle of concrete kings of Melbourne.

While Covid-19 lockdowns brought some industries to their knees, Melbourne’s development sector has continued to soar with residential and commercial construction thriving.

Developers with an eye for everything from townhouses and apartments to office blocks and skyscrapers have been buoyed by state and federal decrees to build Victoria’s way out of the pandemic.

Melbourne’s construction industry went from strength to strength during the pandemic. Picture: David Geraghty

Smaller players are taking on the big boys of development in Melbourne’s construction game. Picture: David Crosling

Melbourne’s growing build-to-rent pipeline is bigger than anywhere else in Australia – almost twice as large as Sydney.

And, in a Melbourne market once dominated by the city’s most famous construction company, Grocon, developers from near and far are muscling in on key sites to expand their empires and the city skyline.

Cashed-up multinational companies, such as Mirvac, Charter Hall, Stockland and Lendlease, have built or drawn up plans for some of their biggest recent projects in Melbourne while Victorians were thrust in and out of lockdowns.

Mirvac is building a 31-storey office tower on the AFP headquarters site.

But the likes of family-owned and operated success story Salta Property and fellow Melbourne-based, privately owned developers the Gurner Group and Riverlee are making an equally big impact in the CBD and suburbs.

Boral Concrete executive general manager Lloyd Wallace said there was a “strong demand for concrete across the Melbourne region’’.

“Particularly in relation to detached housing through larger project home builders and through smaller operators serving the renovation segment,’’ he said.

“Tower construction has somewhat slowed with closed borders during Covid, and international students missing from the CBD, but momentum is starting to build in that space.”

An artist’s concept of a Suburban Rail Loop at Cheltenham.

He said government-backed projects, such as the Suburban Rail Loop and North East Link, would increase demand in coming years.

“North East Link will consume one million cubic metres of concrete alone in a city that generally consumes around seven million cubic metres each year,’’ he said.

Property Council of Australia Victorian executive director Danni Hunter said the property industry employed one in four Victorians and would play a critical role in the state’s economic recovery.

A new Ringwood apartment complex is among the raft of new developments going ahead in Victoria.

“The property sector is Victoria’s biggest industry and employer, employing more 390,000 people and accounting for 59 per cent of Victoria’s tax revenue,’’ she said.

“It creates the places in which we live, work and meet and the industry will play a critical role in Victoria’s economic recovery as we come out of lockdown.”

MELBOURNE’S TOP CONCRETE KINGS

ASSEMBLE COMMUNITIES

Fast-growing, affordable housing developer born and based in Melbourne.

Managing director Chris Daff has attracted significant investment from superannuation giants such as AustralianSuper to supercharge its successful build-to-rent model, with key projects in Kensington and Clifton Hill.

AVID PROPERTY GROUP

Residential developer with 38 projects nationally and a gross revenue pipeline of $4.9bn– $1.19bn in Victoria alone where it has 4603 blocks of land.

Took over Villa World Limited in 2019 to ramp up its home building might.

BECK

Melbourne boutique inner city development team led by Sam Beck and Barry Shepherd. Beck’s Caulfield Village development will build more than 1500 apartments, a supermarket, shops, restaurants and cafes on a prime 5ha site.

BEULAH

Malaysian-backed developer has the green light to build Australia’s tallest tower as part of a $2 bn redevelopment of the BMW site at Southbank.

Its 48-storey Paragon Tower was built on the site of the former Celtic Club at 318 Queen St and it spent $11.4 m on a prime Prahran corner site at 182-194 Commercial Rd to expend its commercial presence in Melbourne.

BROOKFIELD

The Aussie arm of New York based commercial real estate company has $5 billion of development works on the go.

The recently completed office tower at 405 Bourke St and 362 Little Collins St has made a striking impact on the CBD, as head office for NAB with a new retail laneway between Bourke and Little Collins streets.

BURBANK

Privately-owned Melbourne based residential developer formed in Melbourne’s western suburbs in 1983 by Eddie Sanfilippo and his stepbrother Eddie Puhar.

It now boasts more than 100 display homes across Australia and offices in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and NSW.

CEDAR WOODS

Founded in Perth in 1987, listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1994 and now with 34 projects underway or coming soon.

It this year landed two key sites in Melbourne’s western growth corridor totalling $63.5 m – a 14.6ha site in Fraser Rise and a 39.7 ha site in Fieldstone that will add 725 lots to its development pipeline.

CHARTER HALL

Headquartered in Sydney and founded in 1991, the ASX listed company has been making big recent strides in Melbourne as part of its $9 billion scope of developments.

Not content building the Australian Federal Police headquarters at 140 Lonsdale St, it secured part of a majority interest in Myer Melbourne, snapped up the former Goldfingers strip club and Kilkenny Inn buildings and won approval to build a 22 storey office.

It is also building a $1.5 bn two-tower office complex at the corner of Collins and King streets and earlier this year completed its massive transformation of the Wesley Place commercial precinct in Lonsdale St.

CBUS

Headquartered in Melbourne, the superannuation funded investor and developer has some of the city’s biggest projects underway including the $11 bn, 55-storey “vertical village” for more than 5000 CBD workers at 435 Bourke St now under construction.

Commercial, retail and residential sector work exceeding $5 bn with $4 bn more of development work underway.

DEXUS

Sydney- based real estate investment trust with a property portfolio worth $42.5 bn. Melbourne projects include 60 Collins St, a 42,000 sqm premium office tower to be built over 37 levels at the Paris End of Collins St.

DAHUA

Founded in China in the 1980s and launched in Melbourne in 2014, has significant apartment and master plan blueprints for Hawthorn, Westwood and Woolert East.

ESR: Hong Kong headquartered developer and manager of industrial, logistics and commercial property, with offices in China, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and India. Backed by investors including APG, CPPIB, Goldman Sachs, PGGM, Ping An and SK Holdings.

FRASERS PROPERTY

Australian division of Singaporean multinational real estate empire. The group has total assets of about $39.2 bn.

It this year acquired a 26-ha site in Yarraville with plans for more than 1000 homes, a shopping centre, parks and open space.

GOLDEN AGE GROUP

Founded by Jeff Xu in 2006, its portfolio includes property, restaurants, hotels, agriculture and trade in Australian and Chinese markets.

Extensive Victorian projects include Sky Village and Sky One in Box Hill, the 75 level Victoria One residential and retail tower in Melbourne and 198m high Collins House in the CBD.

GRAYSTAR

US property giant has been given the green light to build a $500m, 21 storey dual tower on a large South Yarra site.

It will be Australia’s largest build-to-rent development, with 625 units and 2,400 sqm of retail and commercial office space.

GURNER

Founded in 2013 by Tim Gurner with an eye on the luxury market, the Melbourne made empire is flying, with more than 8500 apartments completed or under construction and a development portfolio worth more than $7.5 bn.

Key projects include a $1 bn hotel and residential tower at 2-28 Montague Street in South Melbourne and the $540 million “ St Moritz” waterfront development in St Kilda due to be completed next year.

Also in the box seat to build a $97 mn high-rise apartment tower and rooftop dining space on the Southbank site of backpackers hostel and the former home of Eve nightclub.

LENDLEASE

Sydney headquartered, multinational construction, property and infrastructure behemoth that has delivered some of Victoria’s landmarks such as the Royal Children’s Hospital, Rod Laver Arena, Victoria Harbour and Melbourne Quarter precinct.

MIRVAC

Another Sydney headquartered development giant with a major stake in Melbourne’s high rise apartment and office space.

Construction of its 31 storey “A grade office tower’’ in Melbourne’s legal precinct at 383 La Trobe Street will continue til 2025.

Its $1bn twin towers for apartments and offices on the former Melbourne Convention Centre at 7-23 Spencer St will also reshape the key site connecting the CBD with Docklands and Southbank.

PDG

Melbourne-based residential, commercial and mix-used property developers specialising in luxury off-the-plan apartments.

The private company launched as a boutique designer-builder in the mid 1980s by Vince Giuliano, the son of an Italian migrant who designed and built homes.

PEET

Aussie real estate developer floated on the stock exchange in 2004 from its Perth headquarters.

Has established eight house and land communities in Melbourne’s western suburbs alone, with one of the biggest residential landbanks of any ASX listed property group and greenfield sites in key Melbourne growth areas.

RIVERLEE

Melbourne-based, privately-owned developer started by chairman Clement Lee in 1993, it has completed more than $2.5bn of urban land and masterplanned communities, commercial office, residential, and hotel developments and has an active development pipeline in excess of $3bn.

Key current projects include the 17-storey, $500m Seafarers precinct on the north bank of the Yarra River at Docklands and $2 bn “New Epping’’ on the 51ha site of a former quarry.

SALTA

Melbourne-based, family success story founded by Salvatore Tarascio in 1970 that has grown into one of Australia’s largest privately-owned companies with 140 total projects and $4 bn of completed works on its books.

Current projects include redevelopment of Preston Market and a $1.2-bn industrial estate in Melbourne’s outer southeast.

SIMONDS

Melbourne-headquartered home building heavyweight employing about 780 people to design and construct houses and develop land.

The largest detached home builder in Victoria, it has built more than 21,000 new homes and created in excess of 400 display centres since being founded in 1949 by Gary Simonds.

STOCKLAND

Sydney-based, diversified property development company with business in shopping centres, housing and industrial estates and retirement villages.

The company has overseen billions of dollars worth of Victorian deals from its Rialto Tower Melbourne base and recently swooped on large land parcels in south east and western growth areas to restock its residential pipeline of works.