Gurner Plans 2200 Apartments at Newly Acquired Site

Property developer Gurner has acquired a 10,000 square metre site in Melbourne's Fishermans Bend precinct with plans to develop a $1.5 billion mixed-use precinct.

The site was secured off-market and will be developed in joint venture with the Nossbaum family.

The site is located within the 485-hectare urban regeneration precinct at 2-28 Montague Street, and is currently occupied by a Mazda dealership and elevator company Otis.

The founder, however, placed a large caveat on the mixed-use development -- telling the Australian Financial Review that plans would not "kick off" until investors returned.

In any case, Gurner's mixed-use plans will steer away from a dwelling-exclusive project -- opting to incorporate childcare facilities, serviced apartments, a 4.5 star hotel and restaurant, a large commercial office component and over 9,000 square metres of retail as well as over 2,200 residential apartments.

Cox Architecture have been appointed to design the project. Architecture director at Cox, Philip Rowe said the location will provide the catalyst for the link between the rejuvenated South Melbourne and newly envisioned Fishermans Bend precinct.

Gurner said the project was a long-term strategy for that will be delivered in stages over a 5-10 year period depending on the market.

“Strategically we are drawn to large sites in areas undergoing significant change and revitalisation, as this allows us to create opportunities for our buyers and clients to ride the uplift in median prices as the surroundings transform,” Gurner said.

“We will look to work with the existing tenancies to establish new state-of- the-art showrooms as part of the retail offering, while creating an integrated, community-focused precinct that connects residents with office workers, business owners, travellers and locals alike,” he said.

“Our focus will be to price the first few stages strategically, offering a high-end product at an affordable price, so that we can quickly move through to construction of the ground level retail plane, and start contributing to the area’s regeneration as soon as possible,” Gurner said.

The site is expected to house well over 3,500 residents once complete, along with an estimated 7,000-plus workers.