High-rises up to 50 storeys get green light for Melbourne suburb

A seven-tower development in Melbourne’s east has been given the green light as the Allan government forges ahead with its promise to squeeze tens of thousands of new homes around Suburban Rail Loop stations.

Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny is to announce on Monday approval of the Box Hill Central North Masterplan, a $1.57 billion project set to create 1700 homes, with 10 per cent set aside for affordable housing, under the government’s scheme to fast-track residential developments.

But the approval will reignite a debate about density and changing suburban skylines, given three of the planned buildings are expected to stand more than 40 storeys tall.

The smallest of the seven buildings will be 19 storeys, while the largest will rise 50 levels. Box Hill’s current tallest building is the 36-storey Sky One apartment tower, which is also the tallest building outside central Melbourne.

The site of the new projects – now officially one of Melbourne’s largest mixed-use development zones – will also feature about 4000 square metres of retail space, as well as a co-working zone, civic plaza and urban park.

Developer Vicinity Centres says the precinct’s construction will support more than 850 jobs annually.

Kilkenny said she had approved the project because Box Hill was growing rapidly and residents deserved to live close to jobs, services and public transport.

“With Melbourne’s population set to be the size of London by 2050, we’re pulling every lever we can to ensure we can get thousands of new homes for Victorians off the ground faster – where they want to live,” she said.

The development was fast-tracked through the government’s Development Facilitation Program, which was expanded last year to speed up new residential projects around Victoria.

Approval of the new masterplan will bring towers rising up to 50 storeys to Box Hill.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

The program was created during the pandemic to revitalise the economy by speeding up approvals for major projects and skipping usual council processes.

But under the expanded program, developers can also apply for the minister to decide on their planning application if their project is valued above $50 million in Melbourne and includes 10 per cent affordable housing. The state estimates this will cut decision times from 12 months to four months.

Whitehorse City Council has previously slammed the state government for seizing control of the Box Hill Central precinct. Councillors last year labelled the process “fatally flawed”, saying building heights were inappropriate and consultation had been inadequate.

“It will result in a public realm that will be seriously compromised,” the council said in its submission to the Department of Transport and Planning.

The nearby railway station, which services the Belgrave and Lilydale rail lines, is at one end of the $34.5 billion Suburban Rail Loop East, which will run from Box Hill to Cheltenham.

The Allan government will oversee planning controls around each of the project’s six stations to develop them into densely populated hubs for jobs, research, health and employment, supported by public transport.

As previously revealed by The Age, most Suburban Rail Loop stations will accommodate towers of up to 25 storeys, with other stations at Burwood, Glen Waverley, Monash and Clayton.

The project’s initial business and investment case in 2021 forecast 47,500 additional households across the first two stages of the project. The second stage would run from Box Hill to Melbourne Airport.

But the government has updated its projections since last year, and now intends to gradually develop 70,000 homes in the six SRL East precincts by the 2050s.

More recently, Whitehorse Mayor Denise Massoud has raised concerns about a “catastrophic” lack of parkland as a result of the rail loop. She estimated in May that 15 MCGs worth of open space would be lost in Box Hill and neighbouring Burwood as a result of works on the rail loop and the North East Link toll road.

“You can’t just take; you have to give something back,” Massoud said.

Opposition Leader John Pesutto has vowed to pause and review the construction of the SRL should the Coalition win government at the next state election, due in 2026, the year tunnelling is set to begin.

The government has an overall target of 800,000 new homes being built across Victoria by the mid-2030s, a figure the Coalition and industry experts have cast doubt on amid a slump in dwelling approvals and the value of residential construction.

Last week, Premier Jacinta Allan released draft housing targets for councils that aim to add more than 2 million homes to the state over the next three decades.

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