Commercial is the flavour of the month

Commercial is the flavour of the month

By Laurence Dragomir - Urban Melbourne director

While the residential market may have slowed down over the past 12 months, developers have opted to push ahead with plans for a slew of office developments within the CBD.

While it awaits approval for its 35-storey dual tower development at 555 Collins Street, Charter Hall has just been granted a demolition permit by the City of Melbourne to commence demolition of Enterprise House, which currently occupies the site. 

Charter Hall lodged plans for the $1.5 billion redevelopment in late April which will encompass the adjoining property at 55 King Street and has been designed by Cox Architecture in tandem with global practice Gensler.

Delta Group has already commenced demolition works on site with the cost approximately $13 million. Demolition of Enterprise House will allow Charter Hall to proceed with the first phase of the redevelopment - the construction of 45,000 sqm of premium office space spanning 35 levels.

The development will aim to target a number of sustainable certifications including a 6 Green Star rating, 5 Star NABERS energy rating and platinum WELL certification – in pursuit of creating one of the city’s most sustainable office buildings. The building will also feature a state-of-the-art health and wellbeing offering, as well as a premium retail hub with a curated selection of restaurants and bars.

The 35-storey tower is due to be completed in mid-2022, by which stage the second phase of the project at 55 King Street is expected to get underway.
Elsewhere, the City of Melbourne has also approved a compact 23-storey office tower designed by Chris Connell Design. The glazed tower will be developed above the 1885 former German Club at 7 Alfred Place in the city’s Paris End after councillors voted unanimously to approve the project at the Future Melbourne Committee (FMC) meeting on June 4.

The tower will comprise smaller office tenancies while existing restaurant tenancies at ground level and the interior of the German Club will be retained within the redevelopment.
And finally, Developer GPT Group has revealed plans for a cross-laminated timber office building g designed by ARM that will be built above the Melbourne Central shopping centre at 300 Lonsdale St.

The 12-storey building, to be known as Frame, will provide office accommodation totalling 19,400 sqm supported by a retail, hospitality and entertainment precinct, which will span the vast rooftop area of the shopping centre as well as a sky lobby on level five.
Frame is targeting a 5 Star NABERS energy and water rating, a 5 Star Green Star, and WELL gold standard.

Pending planning approval from the City of Melbourne, GPT expects construction of the building to begin by the end of the year, with an anticipated completion date of late 2021.

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