MIT Australia has entered the property development industry with a $450-million twin-tower project in Flagstaff Gardens. The development is the fifteenth major project to be approved in the inner city area.

The development at 386-412 William Street is designed to encourage taller towers and higher-density projects and is the Melbourne Institute of Technology's (MIT) first project, which sits on a 3900-square-meter site bought for $16.2 million.

Designed by architects Elenberg Fraser, the development will include 470 apartments and a 210-room hotel on the lower and mid-levels of one tower. There will be 1053 square metres of ground-floor retail and a cafe with parking facilities that favour bicycles with 574 bike spaces and145 car spaces.