Samma Property Wins Nod for Docklands Build-to-Rent

The Victorian planning minister has approved Samma Property Group’s build-to-rent project put forward for one of the Victorian capital’s hottest development precincts.

The project by Samma Property Group calls for a 31-storey residential build-to-rent tower at 194 Lorimer Street in the City of Melbourne’s Docklands area.

The Fender Katsalidis-designed plans include 402 build-to-rent apartments, 202 carparking spaces and 248 bicycle storage spaces.

The project will have 3000sq m of community indoor-outdoor amenities, 115sq m of food and beverage facilities, and 850sq m of community space.

The building, featuring all-electric infrastructure, will target a 7-star
NatHERS rating and a 5-star green star building certification.

In October, 2022, the City of Melbourne received a ministerial referral and determined that it could provide support for the project.

Planning officers at the time recommended that affordable housing be set at 6 per cent of the dwelling mix and that the three-bedroom apartments be increased to 10 per cent of the mix.   

It has now received planning approval from the Department of Water, Environment, Land and Planning in Victoria.

▲ A render of the Fender Katsalidis-designed 31-storey tower at 194 Lorimer Street in Melbourne’s Docklands.

There will be 26,913sq m of residential area, and 31,078sq m of net lettable area in the community, and food and beverage spaces.

The tower will have an end value of $250 million—construction costs for the project were estimated at $152 million in the application documents in October, 2022.

Samma Property and Brightlight bought the site in November, 2021 for an undisclosed price as part of Samma’s second Designed To Rent initiative.

Brightlight will provide $750 million in capital for the initiative after partnering with Samma in October, 2021.

Shed 21, a collection of heritage-listed sheds on the site next to the Bolte Bridge and originally built for the Melbourne Harbour Trust Commissioner in the 1950s, will not be demolished as part of the project.

A review into how they will be managed and maintained in the future was recommended to be included in the project by planning officers in October, 2022.

The site also borders the future Yarra Edge Tower 12 site on Lorimer Street.