Tower Melbourne

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The first of the 'CBD Four' officially marked its beginning of construction yesterday as Probuild now controls the site that will become Victoria One, a 241 metre residential tower spanning 75 levels. Joining Victoria One shortly will be three additional residential towers which will complete the 'CBD Four' as Urban.com.au has dubbed them.

All four developments are the swift work of Asian-backed local property developers and lead a new wave of high-rise residential towers sweeping through inner Melbourne. Incidentally the four are all the handy work of local design firm Elenberg Fraser, reflecting the dominant position they hold within the market.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/onetower_architecture_gallery_3.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Staking its place. image courtesy victoria-one.com.au"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="357" src="/sites/urbanmelbourne.info/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/onetower_architecture_gallery_3.jpg?itok=YQKA5ty2" title="Staking its place. image courtesy victoria-one.com.au" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Staking its place. image courtesy victoria-one.com.au</figcaption></figure>Due for completion late 2017, Victoria One is Golden Age Group’s largest project to date and is slated to be the tallest residential tower within Melbourne's CBD upon completion. 95% of the tower's available 629 apartments have been sold within the project which is valued at $350 million.

Located on the corner of Elizabeth and Franklin Streets in Melbourne, Victoria One will be highly visible upon completion owing to its distinctive green facade and vertical metallic fins which will catch and cast sunlight at different points of the day. Designed to mimic Victoria’s famous landscapes, "The fluid façade appears soft and yielding like the local parks, oceans and rivers. Green glazing with gold highlights gives a botanic feel" as described on the Elenberg Fraser website.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/img_2712.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="The now closed display suite living on borrowed time"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="363" src="/sites/urbanmelbourne.info/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/img_2712.jpg?itok=hhf1evGz" title="The now closed display suite living on borrowed time" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>The now closed display suite living on borrowed time</figcaption></figure><h2>What they say</h2>

<blockquote>
The market is buoyant, but I believe in still being cautious and building apartments that are aspirational and of high quality – these types of projects will find buyers in any market.

We are pleased to be working with Probuild, a company that shares our commitment to quality and speed. They are a group that has emerged as a leader in high density residential construction in Melbourne and will bring strong local expertise to this project.
<cite>Jeff Xu, Golden Age Group founder</cite>
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
You don’t get an opportunity to build the tallest building in a city every day. To have the opportunity to deliver a building that will change Melbourne’s skyline is an exciting prospect.

There is definitely incredible growth in high-rise apartment living that we haven’t seen in our 27 plus years in Melbourne. It signals a change in people’s desire to live closer to the city. People are pushing through that psychological barrier that says we need a home and land. Victoria One represents this change in thinking as well as a change in dynamic as younger generations embrace city living over the traditional great Australian dream of a quarter acre block.
<cite>Dean Lockhart, Victorian managing director Probuild</cite>
</blockquote>

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/image18.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="An Elenberg Fraser role call"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="227" src="/sites/urbanmelbourne.info/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image18.jpg?itok=VXusQzcW" title="An Elenberg Fraser role call" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>An Elenberg Fraser role call</figcaption></figure>Some readers will know that one of the CBD Four, Tower Melbourne, began demolition in excess of a year ago only for CEL Australia to be mired down in legal wrangling with a fellow Singaporean developer controlling the adjoining site. With that matter now settled Tower Melbourne is expected to begin demolition once more shortly.

Of the others ICD Property's EQ. Tower is 100% sold while a handful of apartments remain in Hengyi's Light House Melbourne, directly opposite Victoria One. Demolition on the latter two is also expected to start prior to years end allowing for all four to rise simultaneously over the course of the next two to three years, while injecting in the vicinity of 2420 apartments into Melbourne's CBD upon completion.

Come 2017, the CBD will look immensely different and Victoria One will be leading the charge.
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silvermb

Victoria One - First of the 'CBD four' begins construction

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News is filtering through that CEL Australia's troubled <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/projects/tower-melbourne-150-queen-street-melbourne" target="_blank">Tower Melbourne</a> project at 150 Queen Street may have moved closer to recommencing demolition and eventual construction following a recent Supreme Court sitting.

Displeased with perceived planning process improprieties involving 150 Queen Street (which holds Ministerial approval), owners of the adjoining 140 Queen Street had sought to challenge the Victorian Building Authority and independent statutory body the Building Appeals Board. For a detailed version of the fracas, The Age published <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/melbourne-skyscraper-wrangle-heads-for-the-courts-20140318-35075" target="_blank">this piece</a> recently.

Colonial Range Pty Ltd v Victorian Building Authority &amp; Colonial Range Pty Ltd v Building Appeals Board was slated for judgment on April 4th 2014 at the Supreme Court. It's understood Colonial Range was unsuccessful in its case, therefore removing a major obstacle in Tower Melbourne progressing. Whether this eliminates all legal impositions is unclear.

<a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/2qta6au.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Tower Melbourne. Image © Elenberg Fraser"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="302" src="/sites/urbanmelbourne.info/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/2qta6au.jpg?itok=JpiLY4Gx" title="Tower Melbourne. Image © Elenberg Fraser" width="580"></a>

With increased hopes that Tower Melbourne's state of flux will be broken, it may gain two neighbours within close proximity down the track. Colonial Range's 140 Queen Street development has been dormant for some time although a 27 level mixed-use proposal exists, which project architect <a href="http://www.kerstinthompson.com/" target="_blank">Kerstin Thompson</a> described as follows:

<blockquote>
This development occupies two sites in Melbourne’s CBD – one on Queen Street and the other on McKillop Street. Using air rights it bridges over Penfold Lane to link and consolidate them as a single development up to twenty seven floors. The proposed ambience of the design will build on the urban quality of Melbourne’s renown laneway precincts.

The tower and the podiums accommodate serviced apartments and office suites. The ground floors and level 1 of both podiums accommodate retail. The hotel lobby will occupy the western end of the McKillop Street podium and will open out to the newly created pedestrian lane at the corner of Penfold Lane. In support of the residential and hotel use the development also allows for meeting rooms and a gymnasium. It includes private and common landscape areas such as balconies and generous roof gardens.

The layout and detail of the building envelope provides many opportunities for passive environmental design including a good quality of natural light and ventilation to the residential/office suites. The design assumes operable windows which in combination with the balconies and breezeways will facilitate cross flow ventilation. The various facade treatments include shading, thermal and tinted glazing for improved thermal performance.
<cite>Kerstin Thompson, project architect</cite>
</blockquote>

<a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/Image2queen.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="140 Queen Street and 405 Bourke. Images © Kerstin Thompson &amp; Brookfield"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="499" src="/sites/urbanmelbourne.info/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/Image2queen.jpg?itok=-dk4DuN1" title="140 Queen Street and 405 Bourke. Images © Kerstin Thompson &amp; Brookfield" width="580"></a>

Abutting Tower Melbourne to the east is <a href="http://www.405bourkestreet.com.au/" target="_blank">405 Bourke Street</a> which stands at the ready to attract a large commercial tenant. The 160 metre tower has the capacity to supply Melbourne with over 61,000 sq.m of additional premium office space and near 4000 sq.m of additional retail space, adding to the existing Foundry retail centre onsite. Designed by Woods Bagot and developed/built by Brookfield Australia/Brookfield Multiplex, the development would also feature an all new Gills Alley.

There it is, three towers within a stones throw of one another. All or none may be built; that's the nature of the development game.
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