Human Habitats are delighted to have played a pivotal role in Charter Hall’s most recent approval from the Minister for Planning through the Building Victoria’s Recovery Taskforce (BVRT). One positive of the 2020/21 pandemic has been the return of a development facilitation unit to DELWP. This team has been resourced to support the approval of State Significant Projects like Charter Hall’s new $410 million office development at 480 Swan Street in Richmond. We are very proud to have assisted Charter Hall with the planning approvals enabling a 10-year pre-lease agreement with Australia Post as their anchor tenant.
In 2018 the site was rezoned to facilitate an apartment development, the rezoning of the site was accompanied by a site specific overlay that sought the protection of Burnley Train Station from overshadowing (this is only planning control that seeks to protect a train station from overshadowing) as well as commitments to provide community benefits to the local area. Following this approval, Charter Hall began preparing plans for a commerical office development on the site. The project team, (which includes Architectus, Cox Architects, Floth, Impact, Mel Consulting, TCL, WSP, and Gallagher Jeffs) set off to prepare a design response that remedied some of the complications of the past approval and deliver a landmark office building at the corner of Swan Street and Burnley Street, complete with an active ground plane with alfresco dining, widened footpaths to Swan and Burnley Street, pedestrian link through the site, generous terraces at key locations, all within an attractive carbon-neutral building.
The permit approval allows Charter Hall to deliver 32,000 square metres (sqm) of purpose-built office space over 12 levels, with Australia Post occupying the majority of the building. The building will also include 1,000sqm of retail space on the ground-level, and provide attractive 3,000sqm floor plates.
The building will be constructed under a carbon-neutral framework and will be carbon-neutral enabled on completion. Targeting a 6-star Green Star rating and a 5-star NABERS Energy rating, the development will demonstrate Charter Hall’s continued commitment and leadership in embedding ESG in its assets.
With direct access to Burnley train station, Charter Hall’s plans are designed to deliver a more pedestrianised precinct. Connected by a pedestrian pathway from the train station through to Swan Street, the development will offer the local business and residential communities increased connectivity between transportation, office, and lifestyle amenities. The upgrade of surrounding infrastructure, with the aim of facilitating an increasingly connected, accessible, and welcoming precinct that will serve Australian Post and the local community into the future.
Director of Human Habitats, Will Pearce said “The transformative value of having an A-Grade tenant like Australia Post in this part of Swan Street and on the doorstep of a major train station can not be underestimated. This together with the rezoning that will soon occur as part of the Swan Street Structure Plan, which is currently with the Minister for approval, will see this part of Yarra thrive in the years to come.”
Associate of Human Habitats, Joe Grech said “Critical to the planning success of this project was the early engagement with planning authorities armed with a compelling project vision. While the Minister was ultimately the decision-maker, achieving a level of support from the Planning Department at the City of Yarra in the middle of 2020 was an important milestone.”
Charter Hall Managing Director and Group CEO, David Harrison said, “We are proud to partner once again with Australia Post to deliver a purpose-built solution for their head office space requirements. This builds on our 20-year partnership in providing retail space within our shopping centres and ‘High Street’ retail assets and delivering multiple long-term and short-term logistics space solutions over many years. Equally, we are pleased to provide our investor partners in CPOF and VFMC with resilient total returns by delivering a modern commercial asset that integrates world-class technology and meets their expectations for sustainable property investments.” ¹
Construction is scheduled to begin in the next few months, with a delivery forecast for 2024. We look forward to seeing the approval become a reality in built form over the coming years.
Our hope is that the Development Facilitation unit is retained by our State Government into the future during both the good and the tough times.