108 Lewis Road, Wantirna South

108 Lewis Road, Wantirna South

Rezone: 108 Lewis Rd Wantirna South – 300 Apts, 21,247 SQM of NSA, Amendment C149– Purchased as IN1Z, Rezoned & Divested

Site Background

Located in Wantirna South, some 25 kilometers east of the Melbourne CBD, 108 Lewis Road was an Industrial 1 Zoned site of some 4,993 square metres.  The site is well located being less than 500 meters from Westfield Knox, a shopping center, outdoor entertainment and professional services complex. Improved on the site is a single storey commercial building facing Lewis Road, together with a double storey warehouse located behind it which extends to the rear of the site.  The site was purchased on March 10th 2017.

Planning

The property is located in an area referred to as “Knox Central” which is essentially Knox’s ‘CBD’. Knox Central serves a broad cross-section of the community within Knox and across the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Anchored by the shopping centre it includes retail, residential, industrial, commercial, educational uses, along with significant areas of open space.

In 2015, Council adopted the Knox Housing Strategy which designated Knox Central as an area to accommodate higher density housing. Focusing higher density residential development in locations such as Knox Central supported Council’s and the community’s desire to maintain the low scale character of Knox’s suburban streets.

Following a range of Council led reports throughout 2016, including urban design framework, transport, views and vistas, land use and economic analysis the ‘Key Issues Background report’ for the Knox Central Structure Plan was released in November 2016.

These wide ranging reports led to the Knox Central Structure Plan and ‘Planning Scheme Amendment C149’ being adopted by Council in October 2017 and submitted the amendment to the Department of Environment, Land, Water, and Planning (DELWP) for approval.

Knox Central Structure Plan and Amendment C149 was subsequently gazetted by the Minister of Planning on 24 May 2018, and has been incorporated as part of the Knox Planning Scheme.

The Knox Central Structure Plan is a strategic plan that provided a vision, objectives and actions for the future of the Knox Central Activity Centre. The Structure Plan included guidance for changes to land use, built form including building heights, transport networks and public spaces that together can achieve positive economic, social and environmental outcomes. It provides the direction for public and private investment and development over the next 20 years.

Following the planning scheme amendment, the asset was rezoned to Mixed Use with a preferred building height of 24 meters.

Yield

As per the schematic drawings, commissioned by Fender Katsalidis architects, the determined yield was for a mixed-use development which included an active retail tenancy at ground floor level facing Lewis Road and residential apartments within the levels above provided a yield of 316 apartments and 21,247 square meters of Net Saleable Area. Car parking is provided throughout two levels of basement and the lower ground level, with vehicle access occurring via a double width crossover at the northern end of the site frontage.

Status

The property was sold in September 2018 for an undisclosed amount.