Docklands Office Tower Gets Green Light
Digital Harbour Holdings’ has plans to build a $195 million, 22-storey office building on the western edge of the Docklands after receiving the final nod of approval.
The state minister for planning referred the application to council who voted to support the plans at 208-226 Harbour Esplanade, Docklands at the newly-rebranded City Harbour.
Five private family funds are linked to the holdings company directed by Michael Kohn, Russell Nisbet, David Napier, Paul Abrahams and Andrew Schwartz.
The business entity along with Poly Australia are key partners in the state government’s 4.4-hectare City Harbour mixed-use neighbourhood.
The Bates Smart-designed plans are for a single mixed-use building with three distinct sections including car parking and commercial space within a 6-storey, landscaped podium and additional office space above.
This will create 39,699sq m of net leasable office space including 2,899sq m of co-working space and a 2,404sq m business lounge within the building measuring between 90-96.5 metres high.
This building will add to City Harbour’s 24-storey 1000 La Trobe office tower by Poly Australia, Melbourne Water headquarters, 8-storeys of strata-titled home-office suites and the first completed building in the precinct Innovation Building in 2004 by Digital Harbour Holdings.
City Harbour is one of the smaller neighbourhoods within the 190-hectare Docklands precinct which has undergone rapid change since the 1990s when responsibility of the area was handed to Development Victoria.
Developers are continuing to show support of Melbourne office buildings with 390,000sq m of space to be added to the CBD in the next three years according to the Property Council of Australia.
However the city is yet to recover from the pandemic with office vacancy hitting 8.2 per cent in January compared to 3.2 per cent before the pandemic.
