Boomers seeking public park locations for outlook
LONDON: Boomers are seeking quality apartments overlooking parks and public gardens for outlook, ambience and calm.
A 10-storey luxury apartment building featuring a penthouse pool will be built opposite Fitzroy Gardens, after winning the support of Melbourne City Council.
The $22.7m development will see an East Melbourne building demolished and a 34.3m tower built to house 24 apartments with “generous’’ balconies overlooking the park and CBD.
A cafe/restaurant will open on the ground floor of 372-380 Albert Street, with 10 two-bedroom and 14 three bedroom apartments above, and basement carparking.
In its pitch to the council, developer Luxcon proposed “a mixed-use building … with exceptional views to the north, south and west”.
“The proposed development is an excellent opportunity to add a high-quality development offering in this highly sought-after East Melbourne location,’’ it said.
It said the design by Woods Bagot Architects would “deliver a premium housing choice to the area with associated upgrades to the public realm’’.
The City of Melbourne issued a notice of decision to grant a planning permit for a site the developer said was “well positioned for an increase in residential density.”
Residents’ groups have opposed several nearby development applications. But East Melbourne Group spokesman Greg Bisinella said the approved development would improve the existing “visually unappealing tall rectangular box’’ on the prime site.
“The replacement building presents as a similar design with some softening of the harsh impact of the existing property through more muted colours and added greenery,’’ he said.
“Some set-back would have enhanced the design response and made for a less confronting edge to the Fitzroy Gardens.’’
The ground-floor food and drink tenancy will wrap around the Albert and Lansdowne street frontages.
Residents will gain access from the eastern corner of the Albert Street frontage and 42 underground car parks will be reserved for tenants.
Each residence will have balconies on the southwest corner to maximise park and city views.
“The subject site is unique in its scale, proportion and location,’’ the application said.
