Port Melbourne cruise ship gateway eyesore set to make way for 10-storey tower

A GRAFFITI-ridden, burnt-out derelict site at one of Melbourne’s top tourist gateways may finally be redeveloped after a long battle. We reveal the latest in the Port Melbourne fiasco.

The derelict site near Station Pier - one of the first sights cruise ship visitors see when they land in Melbourne. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

A DERELICT site at one of Melbourne’s tourist gateways may finally be redeveloped after a long planning fiasco.

Hundreds of thousands of cruise ship and ferry passengers disembarking from Station Pier have been confronted by a burnt-out, graffiti-ridden building on a vast weed-infested block.

The Herald Sun revealed the plight of the proposed Waterfront Place development a year ago as the State Government called on developer Action Group Australia and Port Phillip Council to find a compromise.

Cruise ship passengers greeted by the run-down site last year. Picture: Mike Keating

Not the best welcome to our beautiful city. Picture: Mike Keating

A cruise ship docked at Station Pier in 2016. Picture: Mike Keating

Melbourne will soon put on a much more impressive welcome to our cruise ship visitors. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

In 2012, Action Group sought a permit for three buildings up to 19-storeys high in a mixed-use development, but the council knocked back the application mainly due to excessive height.

A stoush followed over the appropriate number of levels until Planning Minister Richard Wynne approved an amendment imposing a 10-storey maximum limit for the Port Melbourne site.

Port Phillip is now considering a fresh application for a 10-level building with 175 apartments and two shops.

The public notification period closes tomorrow, March 6, with seven objections and two letters of support received so far.

Mayor Bernadene Voss said the council was aware that the community wanted a comprehensive assessment of the proposal.

“Our objective assessment process includes the consideration of community views and we expect to make a decision next month at the earliest or in May,” she said.

Action Group’s Andrew Nehme said the company still believed the development deserved more height “but the Minister has done what the Minister has done”.

Mr Nehme said he hoped the $400 million project would be approved soon so construction could start quickly and be finished in about two years.

The site, once described by a local resident as “rubbishville”, is next to the Port Melbourne light rail station and a tourist bus stop.

Last year, Mr Wynne said he hoped the development “complements the gateway into Melbourne for passengers coming in on cruise ships”.

Action Group is owned by Sheik Mubarak Al Abdullah Al-Mubarak al-Sabah from Kuwait’s ruling family.

[e-mail]

@JMasanauskas