Queen Victoria Market’s Square and Street Go Public

Hot on the heels of announcing a partnership with Lendlease for a $1.7-billion development project within the Queen Victoria Market Precinct, the City of Melbourne has greenlit community engagement for the next stage in the precinct’s transformation. 

A community consultation was endorsed for the Market Square, civic building and linear park for Franklin Street at this week’s Future Melbourne Committee meeting. 

“This neighbourhood is expected to be home to 20,000 new residents and even more visitors in the next two decades, which is why we encourage our community to have their say on our plans – and what they’d like to see in this space,” City of Melbourne lord mayor Sally Capp said.

Market Square is being planned as one of the largest public spaces in the city at 1.8ha with the community asked to comment on its future uses.

“Market Square is in many respects the jewel in the crown of this whole reimagined Queen Victoria Market Precinct,” City of Melbourne's deputy lord mayor Nicholas Reece said.

“This is a historic moment for the city - please be part of it.”

The civic building, Queen’s Corner Building, will have amenities and support events and other activities in Market Square.

Community will also have a say in how this building is used.

It is also within the site of Melbourne's first official cemetery which operated from 1837 to 1854 and is thought to still contain around 6000 burials with the project aiming to reference and reflect this appropriately.

There will also be a new 1250sq m linear park, the size of three basketball courts along Franklin Street.

Franklin Street is scheduled to be realigned and extended through the site to meet up with Dudley Street.

▲ The render of what the Market Square at Queen Victoria Markets will look like.

It is part of the $100-million Transport and Amenity Program set up by both council and the state government.

This was agreed upon between the City of Melbourne Council and the Victorian government in 2014 to allow Lendlease’s Gurrowa Place project to have access to two streets and easier movement between the market precinct and the CBD. 

“These projects complement the $1.7 billion Gurrowa Place development, which will bring together residential and affordable housing, student accommodation and office space – forming a key part of Council’s commitment to the future of the beloved Queen Victoria Market,” Capp said.

“The proposed Franklin Street transformation would feature around 40 new trees – delivering 40 per cent canopy cover, in line with our Urban Forest Strategy,” councillor Rohan Leppert said.

Consultation will begin on July 12 with sessions including an initial pop-up session at the Queen Victoria Market on July 15.

Prior engagement has included the Queen Victoria Market Precinct Renewal Master Plan and the Market Square Charter. 

▲ Susie Hawes and Howard Gibbons' property at 144-148 A'Beckett Street near Queen Victoria Markets which is now up for sale.

Meanwhile a four-storey building right next to Queen Victoria Market is being put on the block after 31 years in the hands of Susie Hawes and Howard Gibbons.

Council documents show that they were listed as the property owners in 2005 when they made submissions to the Melbourne Planning Scheme Amendment C61, which proposed reviewing building heights in the Queen Victoria Market Precinct.

Both opposed the changes to building heights, their submissions stating that: “The proposed heights as proposed in the amendment are unAustralian and extremely unfair.”

Hawes and Gibbons also owned Scullerymade, a well-known cookware store in Malvern, that had to close earlier this year after being open since 1978.

The site is 288sq m in size with three street frontages and a total building area of 1187 square metres. 

It is located in the Capital City 1 zoning area allowing for potential residential, office, education, hotel, student accommodation and other uses as approved by council. 

The property has a ground floor showroom, off-street entrance, open floor plates on other floors with kitchen and bathroom facilities and an unencumbered rooftop.

It is also located within the Elizabeth Street Hospitality Precinct and is expected to sell for more than $8 million.

CoreLogic’s property records show that Hawes and Gibbons purchased the site for $785,000, in 1991.

Cushman & Wakefield’s international director Oliver Hay said the property’s proximity to both the Queen Victoria Market and Lendlease’s Gurrowa Place project will benefit the site. 

“Adding to its appeal, the property is conveniently located a mere 250-metre walk from the advancing State Library Train Station, part of the $11-billion Metro Tunnel Project scheduled for completion in 2025,” Hay said.

Melbourne Central Train Station and multiple tram routes on surrounding thoroughfares are also within easy walking distance.” 

Hay, Anthony Kirwan, Daniel Wolman and Leon Ma of Cushman and Wakefield and Joel Wald of MMJ Real Estate will be selling the property via an on-site auction on August 18.