[+] Hopes High Northern Precinct Can Turn Tide on Housing

From the air, low-rise commercial and industrial buildings crowd the neighbourhood, save for one spot of green, the North Melbourne Recreation Reserve.

But on the ground, the 44.6ha suburb is the centre of Victorian Government hopes that it will prove a key part to resolving the housing crisis.

It’s just 2km from the Melbourne CBD and connected to two major train stations. Up to 20,000 people are expected to make it their home by 2051.

This is the Arden Precinct in Melbourne’s northern CBD fringe suburbs. But will it be the solution the government hopes it will be?

The plans for Arden

The Victorian Planning Authority has long held the goal of 70 per cent of new development happening in established areas and 30 per cent on greenfield sites.

Victorian transport minister Danny Pearson explained why at an industry event last month.

“Historically, growth areas in Melbourne have meant greenfield sites on the urban fringe,” Pearson said.

“But growth areas need not just be greenfields, and frankly, a long-term strategy cannot rely on the endless development of greenfield sites on the edge of town, where the cost of infrastructure is up to four times higher and people face long commutes to get to work and study.

“Growth areas can and should include brownfields.

“That’s why Melbourne has a 70:30 target—we want to see 70 per cent of all new growth in Melbourne occurring on brownfield sites.”

Meeting this goal, and the overarching goal of 800,000 new homes in Victoria set out in the Housing Statement former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews put forward before his resignation, has been fraught.

The issues have been many, from economic uncertainty around material and labour costs to rising demand for affordable housing to inefficiencies in planning systems.

Arden Precinct is now one of the pockets within the city and its fringe suburbs that the government hopes can be filled with medium to high-density homes to provide more affordable housing closer to jobs, transport, services and schools.

▲ A Development Victoria render of the Arden Precinct. It has oversight of the project.

Other pockets have included the area surrounding Queen Victoria Markets and the former University of Melbourne campus at Hawthorn.

“The opening of Arden Station will transform an underutilised site in North Melbourne into a new destination for people to work, play and live,” Pearson said.

“By the middle of the century, Arden will be home to around 20,000 people and 34,000 highly skilled jobs in the technology, life sciences, health and education sectors.

“Arden is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of reaching the 70:30 target.

“Precincts in Docklands, Fishermans Bend, Footscray, East Werribee, Parkville and Sunshine will also deliver more affordable housing and capitalize on the major infrastructure investments already made.”

Arden is also planned to function as a connection to the Melbourne Biomedical Precinct at nearby Parkville.

The Victorian Government’s commitment of a 10 per cent minimum of affordable housing on government land in its Housing Statement applies to Arden.

But what is most exciting is Arden’s location and suitability for creating housing for key workers, CBRE development and infrastructure principal Jamie Gillingham says.

“Arden, as a precinct, offers huge potential for all parties,” Gillingham says.

Only 13.5ha of the area is open now for the current expressions-of-interest campaign.

It is due to close on August 20—the Victorian Government says it is keen to see proposals involving affordable housing, build-to-rent, build-to-sell, key worker housing and shared equity options. 

The obstacles

The project is not without its problems as other precincts have shown.

There have been issues for Docklands, including  adequate services for developments to support the residents.

The Fishermans Bend precinct has proceeded slower than anticipated—with two councils and the state government involved, as well as pandemic delays, stretching out the time taken to update planning frameworks.

Gillingham says there are lessons to be learned.

“At 13.5ha, the Arden Precinct offers the chance for State Government to showcase, at scale, the lessons learnt from precincts such as Docklands, Fishermans Bend and the Commonwealth Games regarding developing precincts in a timely fashion,” Gillingham says.

The Arden Precinct project has also hit snags.

In May this year, the Victorian Government announced that two hospitals planned for the precinct as anchor institutions would not go ahead.

Medical towers for the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Royal Womens Hospital were scrapped due to concerns around electromagnetic interference from the Metro Tunnel project. The projects had an estimated build cost of between $5 billion and $6 billion.

This drew criticism from a number of quarters, Victorian Greens leader Ellen Sandell and City of Melbourne councillors including Cr Rohan Leppert among them.

“With no mandated public housing, no hospitals, and no high school at Arden, what will actually be built there?” Sandell said at the time.

▲ A render of the now-scrapped $5-billion hospital medical towers planned for the Arden Precinct.

Gillingham was also disappointed by the hospital decision but thinks the project can still succeed.

“While it has faced challenges in getting into the market, including the recent loss of the proposed Arden hospitals, there remains an opportunity for the State Government to lead with an innovative approach to precinct delivery and set Arden up for a successful outcome,” he says.

“This in turn offers the ability to make significant inroads to the housing delivery challenge set by Victoria’s Housing Statement, and highlight that Victoria remains open for business.”

Gillingham says transparency is also key if the Victorian Government wants to partner with developers and investors to deliver homes in the Arden Precinct.

“The market has been consistent in requesting transparency, continuity and momentum in the State Government’s development partnering processes to counter broader market headwinds, which are especially pronounced in Victoria,” Gillingham says.

“With its proximity to Parkville, the Melbourne CBD and with a Metro station ‘ready to go’ Arden has a great head start and it would be a shame for this to be squandered.”

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