Samma Plots Affordable Redo for Southbank Tower

Developer Samma has filed for a change in the intended use of its 40-storey Southbank tower in Melbourne, the latest in a line of amendments to the original permit.

Samma has lodged the amendment application with the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning to convert its build-to-rent and office development plans to an 100 per cent affordable housing on the 1001sq m site at 65-71 Haig Street at Southbank.

The tower would still comprise 312 homes but the mix would change to have fewer studios and more one and three-bedroom apartments. 

The gross floor area would also reduce to 26,311sq m from 26,730sq m, and the basement will also be reduced with storage and bicycle parking moved to the first three floors.

A cafe on the first floor would be removed to create administrative and back-of-house areas for affordable housing staff. 

Amenity on the 39th floor will be removed as per Mission Australia’s brief, as it would manage ongoing maintenance costs for the building. 

Under the plans, a podium would extend from the ground floor to the eighth floor with apartments, bicycle storage and the lobby.

The remaining floors would be dedicated to apartments with a communal terrace. 

Architects Fender Katsalidis has designed the plans for the tower. 

Samma’s site is next to the West Gate Freeway and currently has a two-storey building at the northern end and a carpark area on its western end. 

Title deeds provided as part of the application show that the developer owns the site through the company SDJ Property Twenty Second. The property last changed hands for $12.5 million in September, 2020 with settlement in September 2021, according to CoreLogic property records. 

ASIC records list Samma executive director Simon Abdelmalak as the director for SDJ Property Twenty Second.

The Housing Australia Future Fund is a Federal Government-created investment fund set up in November to provide funding for social and affordable housing. 

Projects requiring funding need to partner with a community housing provider, such as Mission Housing Australia.