City Considers Sonic’s Plans for Docklands Costco Site

Sonic Healthcare’s amendments to a 2003 development plan for the Costco Docklands site are due to go before the City of Melbourne this week.

Sonic filed the planning amendment with the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning (DTP). The council is the referral authority.

The amendment would add the use of a development centre to existing uses of bulky goods, homemaker and retail for the 26,800sq m site.

Costco Docklands is the listed owner of 331-381 Footscray Road, Docklands, on planning documentation submitted to the department’s Development Facilitation Program (DFP).

The DFP is a fast-tracked planning pathway if a project is accepted as creating jobs.

The existing permit for the site from November 2003 allows for internal fitout changes, additional windows, landscaping and improving the building’s thermal performance.

The site has a two-storey warehouse and 550 carparking bays, 480 of which are within its undercroft.

A modification has been proposed to reduce this to 488 bays with 106 bicycle storage spaces.

Sonic intends to use the site for a Melbourne Pathology hub after buying the site from Costco this year for a reported $100 million.

Nettleton Tribe Architects has designed the adaptive reuse plans for the site.

▲ Costco’s former Docklands site was sold to Sonic Healthcare, which plans a Melbourne Pathology hub.

Planning documentation lists an estimated cost of development of $92 million.

The project is proposed to create 600 healthcare sector jobs initially before expanding to 720.

It is also estimated that it would help generate $5.9 million to be spent each year in the area.

Planning officers have recommended that the city’s Future Melbourne Committee support the application when it’s before it this week.

It would then go back to DTP with the Victorian planning minister as the determining authority.

Costco has moved its operations to a larger location, at Ardeer.