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LONDON: Baby boomers are once again starting to entertain downtown residential living options despite COVID lingering.

Singaporean investment firm Havenport has filed plans for a $30-million residential tower on Flinders Street in Melbourne via a second party, Flinders Highlander.

The 352sq m site, at 490 Flinders Street and 1-9 Highlander Lane, currently has two office buildings on it.

The Metier 3-designed plans include 23 storeys of residential space, a ground floor with retail space and a basement level.

Also planned for the ground floor is a residential lobby and a cafe below the 4925sq m of residential space.

Levels 1 to 11 will each have two apartments—one two-bedroom and one three-bedroom—levels 12 to 21 will comprise one three-bedroom apartment, and levels 22 and 23 a two-level, four-bedroom apartment with a study.

The basement will have a car stacker for 10 vehicles, bicycle parking and site services with entry to the car park from Highlander Lane.

The site had prior planning approval for a 12-storey office tower with a GFA of 2225sq m, a retail area of 103sq m and an office area of 1451sq m with a roof terrace.

The site is across the Yarra River from the Crown Entertainment Complex and a block from Southern Cross Station.

ASIC records show that Graham Fraser, who is a group general manager for Metier 3, is the director of Flinders Highlander.

The Flinders Highlander venture is structured to have shares held by Hall Green AN 1 based in East Melbourne and Havenport Investments based in Singapore.

The Flinders Street parcel of the site was sold to Flinders Highlander in September, 2021 for $4.2 million. The company took possession of the Highlander Lane allotments in April 2022.