Yarra Council Draws Fire Over $350m Richmond Rejection

Yarra City Council has refused a Melbourne developer’s application for a $350-million office tower in the heart of the municipality, saying the scale, mass, height and setbacks were not right for the site.

However, the ruling by the council’s Planning Decisions Committee comes after a recommendation from Yarra planning officers, who had earlier supported the application for the 14-storey development at Richmond.

The planning committee said the project “did not respond to the site context”.

Plans for the tower at 484-490 Swan Street were first lodged with Yarra council in May of last year by Melbourne-based Bamfa Properties, led by brothers Adam and Luke Agosta.

Bamfa Properties has filed an appeal with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. 

The proposed 27,000sq m office building included ground-floor retail of about 845 square metres. 

The three-person committee was told at a meeting in late December there had been 26 objections to the application, and included concerns about excessive height, poor transition, and overdevelopment of the site.

Yarra City Council was approached for comment but did not respond ahead of publication deadline. 

With an overall building height of 57.7m (60.7m including the roof plant area) the tower exceeded the council’s preferred maximum building height of 40m by 17.7 metres.

But, in a 73-page report to the committee, Yarra’s principal planning officer, John Theodosakis, said “the proposed development’s height was generally commensurate with (and slightly higher than) the height of the approved development to the immediate west that is under construction”.

The application was also referred to external urban design consultant Simon McPherson of Global South who was supportive of the proposed height.

“Council’s external urban design consultant commended the development’s contributions and justified the proposed height relating to context and its offerings,” Theodosakis wrote.

“This height variation is considered to strike a reasonable balance, tempering the height of the western development under construction, the existing approved height in the western portion of the subject site, and the DDO28 controls of the scheme.”

▲ Yarra planning officers had recommended the 14-storey development in Richmond be supported.

Theodosakis said the application had been widely shared within the council, including with urban design, engineering services, strategic planning and transport. It had also been referred to Transport for Victoria, VicRoads, CityLink and the Environmental Protection Authority.

“There is no dispute that strategically the subject site is well-located for a higher-density development, being in the C1Z (zoning) within the Swan Street MAC (major activities centre), with excellent access to cycling networks, public transport, services and facilities,” he wrote. “Based on these attributes, it is a reasonable expectation that this site will experience intensification in use and development.”

The committee meeting was not swayed.

In a motion put by deputy mayor Edward Crossland the committee agreed that having considered all objections and relevant planning policies, it would issue a Notice of Decision to Refuse to Grant a Permit for the development of the land with a multi-level building.

Crossland is one of three councillors representing the Melba Ward, in which the development was proposed. 

Bamfa Properties said they understood the refusal was part of the process and had already appealed the decision to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT.)

But managing director Adam Agosta remained baffled by the decision.

“This decision highlights the inadequacies of the system that’s fundamentally flawed at the moment, because you’re working hand-in-glove with officers who are the experts and you come up with a good scheme that experts are happy with, and content with, where they give you a resounding level of support,” Agosta told The Urban Developer.

Agosta pointed to Australia Post’s new headquarters on the neighbouring lot in the same street. Charter Hall inked a deal to house Australia Post on that land—which belonged to the Agosta family—in 2021.

“They can see the result and the activity that that’s brought to the precinct,” Agosta said. “They can see the benefits and the extra amenity that Australia Post will bring to the site.

“This project finishes the precinct—a $350-million office building, 2000 jobs and half a billion dollars in economic activity that will finish the precinct and elevate the Burnley Station.”

He said developers were losing confidence in the council's “erratic” decision-making.

“And when you lose confidence, money flows to other municipalities where developers do have confidence,” he said.

“The system is flawed, particularly in regards to Yarra where they are getting a negative reputation in the industry and my advice to other developers looking to invest or to go for permits is to go straight to VCAT.”