Proposed 404-metre tower for Melbourne at 555 Collins Street

Proposed 404-metre tower for Melbourne at 555 Collins Street
Alistair WalshDecember 7, 2020

Developer Harry Stamoulis wants to build a 404-metre office tower at 555 Collins Street in Melbourne.

If approved and built would be the tallest building in Australia – 16 metres taller than Australia 108 which was approved in March.

The 82-storey office tower (pictured below) still needs planning approval from state minister Matthew Guy, but he has already relaxed planning controls to allow the Stamoulis Property Group to apply.

Next week Melbourne City Council will debate a motion that notes with concern the recent decision of the Minister for Planning to remove the overshadowing protection afforded to the Yarra River since 1982.

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Stamoulis bought the site from the state government in 2002 for $40.7 million, Fairfax Media reported at the time.

The building, Enterprise House, is a 23-storey office tower, leased primarily to NAB. The bank holds the 23,700 square metre lease until the end of 2013. It renewed its lease in 2010.

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At the time Stamoulis said it planned to refurbish the building into “A-grade accommodation” in 2014.

Melbourne’s Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle, has slammed the proposal saying it will cast a shadow over the Yarra’s Southbank.

"I don't have a problem with tall buildings, but can't allow them here there and everywhere," Doyle told 3AW.

"We don't want Surfer's Paradise on the Yarra.”

The site used to be home to the Federal Hotel and Coffee Palace, built in 1880. It was one of the largest and ornate city buildings at the time. It was demolished in 1973 to make way for speculative office development.

The current tallest building in Australia is the Q1 tower in the Gold Coast at 323-metres.

The Stamoulis family have an estimated fortune of $459 million, primarily from the proceeds of the 2004 sale of its Gold Medal soft drink empire. Their property holdings now include Melbourne CBD office buildings, factories, a golf club in Victoria's Yarra Valley, an apartment block in Athens and an island in the Ionian sea.

Images courtesy of https://www.skyscrapercity.com.

Alistair Walsh

Deutsche Welle online reporter

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