LongRiver Group's three bedroom surprise for their third Box Hill skyscraper

LongRiver Group's three bedroom surprise for their third Box Hill skyscraper
Mark BaljakJune 12, 2018

The Chinese-backed influence over Box Hill's skyline has strengthened once more with advertised plans unveiling LongRiver Group as the force behind a 37 storey skyscraper slated for 843 Whitehorse Road.

Opposite their similarly sized East Central Tower at 820 Whitehorse Road which is currently at sales, 843 Whitehorse Road's $90 million construction value would see 287 apartments built above a retail, office and showroom podium. Latest designs for the tower were submitted earlier this month and show 111 three bedroom apartments included which equates to 43% of all dwellings.

This 43% figure positions the tower as being unique in that very few if any towers of this magnitude have attempted to include such a high proportion of three bedroom apartments.

As per East Central Tower, Fender Katsalidis Architects were handed the design duties for the current application and have in turn created a tower which compliments their initial design. This is especially the case for the tower components of either tower, with the principal difference being the white banding that discerns East Central Tower.

Agent Savills handles the sale of what is now a BP Service Station during mid 2017, with a sales tag of $22.5 million.

843 Whitehorse Road application summary

LongRiver Group's three bedroom surprise for their third Box Hill skyscraper
843 Whitehorse Road and East Central Tower in context. Images: Fender Katsalidis
  • Site area: 1,972 sqm, 2 frontages, 49.25m to Whitehorse Road
  • Proposed: 37 storey tower at 117.9m
  • 287 apartments: 9 x 1BR, 167 x 2BR, 111 x 3BR
  • 371 car parking spaces and 132 bicycle parking spaces over 4 basement levels and 6 podium levels
  • 5 retail tenancies between 25sqm and 570sqm, with a total retail floor area of 1,053sqm
  • 962sqm double height car showroom
  • 3 office tenancies with a total area of 2,073sqm
  • Amenities: Level 6 common area spanning 1,864sqm, including open terrace, pool, spa and sauna, gym, yoga room, dining and lounge room, theatre and wine store. Level 30 communal lounge and dining facilities

Property and Infrastructure consultancy APP provides comment on the project via their website:

With impressive architectural quality delivered by Fender Katsalidis, the development includes approximately 300 apartments, key retail spaces and an architecturally enunciated car showroom. Fender Katsalidis Australia will now continue on developing the apartment interiors, striving for opulent finishes.

The site is located directly opposite Longriver’s current development, East Central Tower at 820 Whitehorse Road. The two sites at 820 Whitehorse Road and 843 Whitehorse Road will create a strong synergy for the area and compliment Box Hill’s current development boom to service an anticipated population increase of 37,000 within the next 20 years.

The overall design and development will continue to be refined in 2018, before commencing construction.

LongRiver Group's three bedroom surprise for their third Box Hill skyscraper
843 Whitehorse Road shadowed by a scheme for 835 Whitehorse Road. Images: Fender Katsalidis

Three of many

The aforementioned East Central Tower joins 874-878 Whitehorse Road as LongRiver's other Box Hill developments. The latter will eventually become a DoubleTree by Hilton with 200 guest rooms in tow; it was recently given the green light by VCAT.

Box Hill's development scene and skyline is experiencing great change at the moment. Fender Katsalidis have added a scheme for 835 Whitehorse Road directly west of 843 Whitehorse Road, which site at approximately 130 metres; 835 Whitehorse Road has been subject to development overtones of late.

The sites accommodating East Central Tower and CBD Development Group's tri-towered development immediately east of 843 Whitehorse Road are preparing for demolition, whilst demolition is all but complete on Box Hill Institute's 1000 Whitehorse Road. Plans for a 29 and 24 storey development which also covers 16-18 Spring Street are with the State Government.

In the midst of all the pending development, Golden Age Group's SKY ONE Box Hill continues to rise; upon completion is will become Box Hill's tallest tower.

LongRiver Group's three bedroom surprise for their third Box Hill skyscraper
SKY ONE Box Hill is the latest Box Hill tall on the move

Application team

  • Developer: LongRiver Group
  • Architect: Fender Katsalidis Architects
  • Site Survey/ Existing Conditions Plan: Bosco Jonson
  • Urban Design and Context Report: Urbis
  • Waste Management Plan: Leigh Design
  • Traffic Impact Assessment: Ratio Consultants
  • Wind Impact Assessment: Vipac Engineers and Scientists
  • Sustainability Management Plan: WGE
  • Economic Benefits Analysis Report: Essential Economics
  • Landscape Plan: John Patrick Landscape Architects.

Mark Baljak

Mark Baljak was a co-founder of Urban.com.au. He passed away on Thursday 8th of November 2018 after a battle with cancer. He was 37. Mark was a keen traveller, having visited all six permanently-inhabited continents and had a love of craft beer. One of his biggest passions was observing the change that has occurred in Melbourne over the past two decades. In that time he built an enormous library of photos, all taken by him, which tracked the progress of construction on building sites from across metropolitan Melbourne.

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