Melbourne development numbers: Moonee Valley, Moreland & Darebin

Melbourne development numbers: Moonee Valley, Moreland & Darebin
Alastair TaylorJanuary 19, 2015

Essendon, Moonee Ponds, Brunswick, Coburg, Northcote and Preston: suburbs synonymous with Melbourne's inner North and increasingly at the forefront of Melbourne's accelerating density. Following on from last week's overarching article, we'll gradually be taking a closer look at Melbourne's development numbers - region by region - and today's focus is on the three local government areas that reside to the immediate north of City of Melbourne/Yarra.

Moonee Valley, Moreland and Darebin between them represent 100 projects or 17% of the total projects being tracked on Urban.com.au. Eight of Melbourne's 24 tram routes and all four northern train lines pass through the LGA's in focus and according to demographers .id, 26% of Moreland residents, 24% of Moonee Valley residents and 21% of Darebin residents work in either the CBD or the remainder of the City of Melbourne.

With the majority of Melbourne metro's population living in the East and South, for people who may not venture beyond the aforementioned areas, the numbers in the inner north may surprise.

Moonee Valley

Low and mid-rise buildings dominate both the number of projects and number of residential units in Moonee Valley with two high-rises limited to Moonee Ponds CBD and Only Flemington opposite Flemington Racecourse.

Building TypePlanning AssessmentApprovedRegistration & SalesUnder ConstructionTotal
Low -rise--5 projects, 135 units2 projects, 111 units7 projects, 246 units
Mid-rise2 projects, 100 units2 projects, 53 units5 projects, 295 units6 projects, 607 units15 projects, 1055 units
High-rise2 projects, 231 units-1 project, 408 units-3 projects, 639 units
Total4 projects, 331 units2 projects, 53 units11 projects, 838 units8 projects, 718 units25 projects, 1940 units
Melbourne development numbers: Moonee Valley, Moreland & Darebin
Collins & Queen on Keilor Road, Niddrie. Image © bpmcorp.com.au

Moreland

Moreland is a hub of activity in the mid-rise building range with a total of 28 projects strewn across postcodes 3055, 3056 and 3057: Brunswick West, Brunswick and Brunswick East respectively.

Building TypePlanning AssessmentApprovedRegistration & SalesUnder ConstructionTotal
Low-rise5 projects, 253 units3 projects, 131 units1 project, 142 units2 projects, no unit data11 projects, 526+ units
Mid-rise4 projects, 624 units12 projects, 1481 units7 projects, 315 units5 projects, 690 units28 projects , 3110 units
High-rise--1 project 232 units-1 project, 232 units
Total9 projects, 877 units15 projects, 1612 units9 projects, 689 units7 projects, 690+ units40 projects, 3868 units
Melbourne development numbers: Moonee Valley, Moreland & Darebin
The Wilkinson, Brunswick - Image © thewilkinson.com.au

Darebin

Approximately 40% of all the projects in Darebin that we're tracking on Urban.com.au are located on the municipality's primary strip: High Street. According to REA Media's median house price data, to buy a house in Northcote would set you back just shy of a million dollars; it's no wonder there's a plethora of apartment projects in the area.

Building TypePlanning AssessmentApprovedRegistration & SalesUnder ConstructionTotal
Low-rise-2 projects, 57 units8 projects, 263 units3 projects, 108 units13 projects, 428 units
Mid-rise1 project, 102 units11 projects, 1256 units5 projects, 660 units3 projects, 225 units20 projects, 2243 units
High-rise1 project, 209 units1 project, 296 units--2 projects, 505 units
Total2 projects, 311 units14 projects, 1609 units13 projects, 923 units6 projects, 333 units35 projects, 3176 units
Melbourne development numbers: Moonee Valley, Moreland & Darebin
Sophia Apartments, Northcote - Image © sophiasapartments.com.au

With Urban.com.au tracking near on 9,000 apartments ranging from planning assessment to under construction within these three municipalities, it's clear that Melbourne's inner north is an area of choice for apartment buyers and investors at the moment.

We feel that this trend will only intensify given the proximity all three LGA's to Melbourne's heart and the general abundance of land ripe for development along or adjacent to a number of major strips such as Sydney Road, High Street and Keilor Road.

Alastair Taylor

Alastair Taylor is a co-founder of Urban.com.au. Now a freelance writer, Alastair focuses on the intersection of public transport, public policy and related impacts on medium and high-density development.

Editor's Picks