New Sky thinking: 88 Melbourne
First covered on Urban.com.au over two years ago, 88 Melbourne was officially launched by New Sky Group on 30 April, marking its first major foray into the Melbourne market.
The project has already proven popular with locals currently living within Southbank and interstate purchasers with buyers from Sydney in particular.
The $100 million 60-storey tower, located in the Southbank Entertainment Precinct is designed by RotheLowman in conjunction with KPDO.
Inspired by hand crafted jewelry and the art of origami, the building features a three-dimensional diamond patterned façade, that will shimmer during the day. This will be further accentuated in the evening sky by an integrated LED installation, the first residential tower in Melbourne to feature a full height LED lighting design.
88 Melbourne will have a sophisticated presence in the city and change the way people think of apartment living. It will be an iconic Melbourne address and a lasting moment in the evolution of local architecture and how we design for changing life-stages.
Chris Hayton, Principal, RotheLowman
88 Melbourne will be Melbourne’s first apartment building to feature hand-crafted kitchen appliances by Sub- Zero and Wolf, the brand associated with professional chefs internationally including Heston Blumenthal, Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver.
At time of writing, 72 of 252 apartments within 88 Melbourne have been sold in the first 3 weeks, with 50% of the 1 bedroom apartments sold. Apartments range in size from 50-58sqm for 1 bedroom apartments, up to 88sqm for 2 bedroom and 113-158sqm for the 3 bedroom apartments with an average of five apartments per floor.
Penthouses occupy full floors and feature floor to ceiling heights of four metres.
Sales agent Matt George of Urban Activation said 88 Melbourne was a unique project for the city and with the introduction of stricter planning controls meant the chances of views being built out were less likely particularly above level 44. 88 Melbourne identified a gap in the market for owner-occupier driven apartment stock within the CBD and Southbank according to Matt.
The city has not seen a CBD tower of this scale designed specifically with owner occupiers in mind before. While investors will undoubtedly be interested in this building, its residents will overwhelmingly reside here.
It reflects an evolution to a more New York urban style of living in Melbourne, as more and more families and empty nesters trade their family home for an urban pad with everything they need either in their building or on their doorstep.
Matt George, Urban Activation
The AFR has reported that 88 Melbourne has received consent from Planning Minister Richard Wynne to increase its height by six floors to an overall height of 199 metres, or 208 metres to top of plant. Construction of 88 Queensbridge is expected to commence in late October / early November with an expected construction programme of two years.
