19-21 White Street, Maribyrnong

19-21 White Street, Maribyrnong

Rezone: 19-21 White St Maribyrnong – 320 Apts, 23,145 SQM of NSA, Amendment C135 Purchased as IN3Z, Rezoned & Divested.

Site Background

Located in Maribyrnong, some eight kilometres north-west of the Melbourne CBD, subject site was located within an industrial precinct.

The rectangular site comprised three parcels of land with an area of approximately 4,928 square metres and frontage of approximately 70 metres to White Street.

The site is occupied by a single storey warehouse. The site was purchased for in July 2016 being leased at the time of the acquisition providing a holding income.

Planning

The subject site is located within an industrial precinct and was zoned Industrial 3 Zone.

Under this zone, the use of the land for dwellings is prohibited and thus, the development potential of the site was generally limited to lower scale industrial development.

The Highpoint Activity Centre Structure Plan 2008 identified the site being within the Williamson Road precinct. This precinct was considered to be under-developed, with potential for intensification to increase the compactness and diversity of the centre. Of note, the Plan recognised the opportunity to continue White Street west to Wests Road, providing improved movement through the precinct.

The character of Maribyrnong was evolving as the municipality became an increasingly desirable place not only to live but also as a destination for retail, leisure and entertainment. Given the locational attributes of the area, there was clear policy direction by Council for the intensification of the subject land, however this was not reflected in the zoning and overlay controls.

The site forms part of the Highpoint Activity Centre which is identified as a Principal Activity Centre (PAC) under seeking to transform the Highpoint PAC into a vibrant mixed use centre. A key strategy to achieve this objective is to intensify housing development within and adjacent to the centre.

Given the above policy direction, in 2015, Council proposed an amendment to the Planning Scheme to facilitate changes to zoning and overlay controls within the Highpoint PAC in order to enable the transition of the centre from its industrial past and facilitate the creation of a compact and highly accessible centre which accommodates a range of housing types and complementary uses. This amendment was referred to as Amendment C135.

Following acquisition, in 2017, the site was rezoned from Industrial 3 Zone to the Mixed Use Zone allowing a 12 level development.

Yield

As per the schematic drawings, commissioned by CHT architects, the determined yield was for a mixed-use development which included retail tenancies at the ground floor level facing White Street and residential apartments within the levels above provided a yield of 320 apartments and 23,145 square meters of Net Saleable Area. Car parking is provided via a three level basement, with vehicle access occurring via White Street at the northern end of the site.

Status

The property was sold in July 2017 for an undisclosed amount.