Office Tower Plans Piling Up in Richmond

The popularity of Melbourne’s CBD fringe for office projects continues with two separate plans filed for Richmond.

Gurpreet Singh Kahlon and Bianca Kahlon’s BG Estates has lodged plans with the Yarra City Council for a Davey Architecture Studio-designed tower at 393 Bridge Road (pictured above).

The plans show a tower with eight storeys and two basement levels, 3741sq m of gross floor area and terraces on levels three, five, six and seven. 

The project has an estimated cost of $7 million. It will also have 34 car parking spaces in the basement levels, accessible from Coppin Street’s northern laneway.

The property was last sold in June, 2004 for $2.3 million. 

Meanwhile, Michael Herman’s Hub Property Group has filed plans for an 8-storey tower designed by Kavalleris Urban Design for 23 Howard Street. 

There will be terraces on levels four, five, six and the rooftop, with five car parking spaces in the basement stacker, 16 bike spaces and two motorbike spaces.  

The property was last sold in mid-2021 for $2.6 million to current owner Harilaos Lymberatos. 

▲ An impression of the Hub Property Group’s planned tower for 23 Howard Street, Richmond.

Melbourne’s CBD fringe suburbs have seen a flurry of activity in the office market in the first quarter of 2022, with many anticipating that workers will want to return to the office as pandemic restrictions lift, but not want to travel to the CBD while Covid is still present. 

In 2021, 137 assets exchanged hands for a total of $4.78 billion.

The office fringe market looks set to follow the evolution of how we work, as working from home and hybrid options impact the investment, sales and returns on leasing properties. 

Melbourne’s office vacancy rate was 11.9 per cent in January, according to Property Council Australia data, with supply outstripping demand. 

JLL’s head of research Andrew Ballantyne said developers were trying to create office spaces that offered more amenities, facilities and options that ease working life and create better accessibility. 

“Commercial developments traditionally turned their back on their neighbours, but now they are being designed to integrate with their communities,” Ballantyne said.

“We want to build healthier buildings and communities.”