Skinny Office Tower Planned for Trendy Richmond

A private developer keen to join the development drive in the emerging office market in inner-city Melbourne’s trendy Richmond has filed plans for a skinny, mid-rise commercial development on the suburb’s popular retail and dining strip.

The new building will front Swan Street, which runs through the heart of Richmond and into the city’s leafy east. 

​​The stepped glass building featuring a total gross floor area of 1900sq m—comprising 16000sq m of commercial net lettable area as well as 50sq m of retail space on the lower levels—would replace two low-format retail buildings at 331 and 333 Swan Street.

It will join a host of commercial developments planned or under construction in and around the rapidly changing fringe office suburbs of Cremorne, Richmond and Burnley, including Charter Hall’s 12-level office development at 480 Swan Street.

The application has been lodged by private entity Mirowa, headed up by Melbourne businessmen Peter and John Koinakis, who picked up the site via auction in early 2021.

Under plans designed by Idle Architecture Studio—a practice with a number of boutique commercial developments in Prahran, Hawthorne and Cremorne— Mirowa intends to build an eight-level office building holding a 10m frontage to Swan Street.

▲ The building will front trendy Swan Street which runs through the heart of Richmond and into the city’s leafy east. Image: Idle Architecture Studio

The office block will not have a basement level but will instead feature four state-of-the-art multi-parking systems, accessible via Beissel Street, at the rear of the site.

The site has good transport connections, with a direct link at the rear to the local train station while the city’s major tollroad is also nearby.

If realised, the development will be one of the tallest along the central portion of Swan Street, which runs through the suburbs of Richmond, Cremorne and Burnley.

Nearby, developer Cadre is pressing ahead with plans for a geometric, 10-level glass office building of its own at 439-443 Swan Street, offering 3500sq m of net NLA. 

Richmond, along with nearby Cremorne and Burnley, is on the eastern fringe of Melbourne CBD. 

Once working-class and industrial, the precincts have been transformed into hipster neighbourhoods and an office market is also taking shape. 

▲ Large national brands have been relocating their headquarters to Richmond in Melbourne’s inner east during the past few years. Image: Nearmap

Tech-focused corporates and creatives have made a beeline into the area, including Tesla, Uber, the Walt Disney Company, Carsales.com.au and REA Group. 

Australia Post last year committed to a new building being developed by Charter Hall on Richmond’s Swan Street while Bunnings also became the latest big corporate player to choose the neighbourhood, striking a deal last year with Growthpoint to take up lodgings in an office tower at 570 Swan Street.

Last month, Vicland Property Group, led by Bill McNee, put forward plans for a 12-level office building featuring more than 17,900sq m of office space and 2100sq m of retail space at 31-53 Cremorne Street. 

A number of new developments and approvals in Cremorne include Little Projects’ 8500sq m office building at 34 Cubitt Street and Fortis’ $40-million development at 65-81 Dover Street.

In May, ASX-listed hiring platform Seek completed construction of its new $150-million headquarters at 60 Cremorne Street while developer Alfasi Group built, filled and then sold a $130 million half stake in its 10-level, 20,000sq m office tower at 510 Church Street.

Meanwhile, private developer Caydon is well-progressed on its $400-million development known as the Malt District at the historic Nylex site, having already completed a 14,000sq m office tower, which it leased to MYOB and sold four years ago to global investment house AXA in a fund-through arrangement.