A first look at 63 Exhibition Street

It's bewildering that a Melbourne-based property developer with no completed projects has in excess of 45,000 Facebook likes; an unconventional method to measure the success of a developer yet still valid? Of course scratch the surface and King Street-based Asia One's roots go much deeper with the firm having over 900 dwellings currently under development in Malaysia.

According to Asia One's website the firm is championed by three men, including founder and Executive Director Roger Lim. With the company's headquarters located at 33-35 King Street Melbourne, Asia One's website has also been updated to show two new Melbourne CBD projects under their keeping.

33-35 King Street has been approved for some time but the project sure to garner most attention is 63 Exhibition Street. Lodged during August, the planning application was matched with images yesterday as discovered by Urban.com.au contributor Nicholas Harrison.

It was reported during March 2014 that Mulgrave-based Suleman Group offloaded the existing office block at 63 Exhibition Street to an Asian-based developer. Fast forward six short months and the images shown above depict a slim skyscraper for the 849sqm site.

Aside from carrying 328 apartments, 225 hotel rooms and 20 car parking spaces, little else is known of the project thus far. Located within close proximity to 101 Collins Street, 63 Exhibition is also opposite 80 Collins Street which under the auspices of QIC is expected to begin construction in the new year, headlined by a new 187 metre commercial tower.

Should both 63 Exhibition Street and 33-35 King Street come to fruition, a total of 468 apartments and 225 hotel suites would be added to Melbourne's stock. Urban.com.au will provide an overview of the 63 Exhibition Street planning application in coming weeks.