High-rise plans next to North Melbourne footy club

A new inner city precinct taking shape next to the Kangaroos’ headquarters is set to spark controversy.

Final designs for a 15,000-resident inner city precinct next to a Metro rail tunnel station and the home of the North Melbourne Kangaroos has been approved by the Andrews Government.

Community and stakeholder feedback has been fed into the Arden Station Precinct plan, which allows for 40-storey high rises along the rail line and several other buildings between 20 and 35 storeys.

In releasing the amended plan, which was first drafted in 2018, the government said it would deliver a jobs and housing boost to the inner north west.

It said minor modifications had been made to the draft for a “greener outlook and better access for passengers”.

The new Arden Station is one of five underground stations built as part of the underground rail tunnel.

But the scale of development approved for the precinct, which will also include a new civic centre and a new primary school, is likely to be controversial in some neighbouring communities.

The major new inner city precinct is an important financial offset for the $13.7 billion Metro rail project, with a tax put on housing and businesses built in the area and which benefit from the new infrastructure.

Development contribution rates have been set at $17,053 per dwelling and $193 per square metre of new commercial floor space.

Arden is one of five new underground stations built as part of the underground rail tunnel between South Yarra and Kensington.

The Metro Tunnel is a key part of the Arden Precinct, Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan said.

There is another station near to the University of Melbourne in Parkville, two CBD stations, and another station next to St Kilda Rd, near the Shrine.

The government is describing the Arden Precinct as “a new destination in Melbourne’s inner north west”.

Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan said Arden Station “was where we launched our first tunnel boring machine almost two years ago, and with tunnelling now complete we’ll see the station take shape in coming months and years”.

“The Metro Tunnel is a key part of the Arden Precinct and will open up this side of the city to business and residential use, bringing housing and employment opportunities alongside the growth of Victoria’s innovation economy,” she said.