By Cara Waters
The Arden precinct in North Melbourne could soon be home to a towering 57-storey apartment block, almost triple the approved height limit for the area.
An application was lodged this week with the state government for a tower containing 609 apartments, 6772 square metres of office space and 2278 square metres of retail space, above a three-level basement.
A planning application has been made for a 57-storey tower at Arden.Credit: Jason South
As the Arden precinct is one of the state’s new activity centres, the state government makes the final decision on the application, but Melbourne City Council can provide guidance.
The proposed tower would have 116 car parking spaces and 738 bicycle spaces.
The planning application describes the tower as a “transit-orientated, mixed-use project” near the Metro train station being built at Arden and across the road from the Arden Street oval.
The Arden precinct has been earmarked by the government to help the state meet its ambitious housing goals by making room for 20,000 residents by 2051.
Plans for a new hospital were axed in the state budget, but the government is focused on development around the soon-to-open Metro Tunnel station.
The proposed tower would be higher than the Rialto, which was once Melbourne’s tallest building at 55 storeys, and would be more than double the nearest tall buildings in North Melbourne, the public housing towers, which stand at 20 storeys.
KordaMentha Real Estate and Goldhill Junction Pty Ltd are the lead developers on the project.
The planning application was lodged by Arden Development Services Pty Ltd, which has former Melbourne Rebels rugby union club president Paul Docherty as its director and secretary.
Docherty’s investment vehicle, BRC Capital, retains a legacy minority investment interest in the project.
Several businesses associated with Docherty have entered administration or liquidation over the past year, including SmileStyler, 3DMeditech and the Melbourne Rebels.
The Melbourne Rebels were left owing more than $23 million to creditors, including $11.6 million to the Tax Office.
At the time of its collapse, the club had $17,300 in the bank and a handful of assets mainly consisting of gym equipment, two cars and office furniture.
The site for the proposed tower stretches across 189-197 Arden Street, 199 Arden Street, 201 Arden Street and 203 Arden Street.
The Arden Structure Plan sets out height limits of between 12 and 20 storeys for these properties.
RMIT urban policy professor Jago Dodson said that while it was expected Arden would be a “fairly high-intensity site”, the proposed tower was three times the height limit.
“It is clearly a plan-busting proposal that is almost as if it is ignoring the height limits proposed in the structure plan,” he said. “To have a developer come in and have something so out of step with what the government and community have produced seems a bit provocative.
“A tower of that size would be very out of step with the local built form. It is going to stand out like a sore thumb in that area and probably would do for many years.”
Dodson said he expected the local community would have a lot to say about the plans.
“I don’t think developers are naive when they do this. They might expect it will get dialled down,” he said. “It is a tactical ploy by the developer to pitch something so extreme.”
Dodson said a developer might make a planning application for a 57-storey tower and hope for approval of 35 or 40 storeys, which was still double the height limit agreed.
“It will be an interesting test of the government’s commitment to its own planning structures, noting we are in a moment when governments are scrambling to get as much housing as they can,” he said.
A spokeswoman for KordaMentha Real Estate said that while the developer acknowledged the scale of the proposal was greater than the current planning controls for the precinct, it would provide much-needed housing to meet the ambitious targets of the state.
“This project will deliver a range of well-located housing stock adjacent to public transport and close to the CBD and the medical and educational precinct of Parkville,” she said.
“Importantly, 10 per cent of dwellings will be set aside for affordable housing, well above the 6 per cent requirement for the Arden Precinct. Housing for key workers is also a focus of the project.”
The spokeswoman said the plans also included substantial commercial and retail offerings to support the building of a new community, as well as public and green space celebrating First Nations culture.
“The project will activate and identify Arden, bringing significant investment to the state,” she said.
Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny and the state government declined to comment. Docherty was contacted for comment.
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