388 William joins the growing chorus of office developments in Melbourne
A project first covered by Urban.com.au way back in 2013 has found a new purpose, with owner MIT Group Holdings joining the growing chorus of developers adapting their development intentions to commercial use.
Spanning a 4,000 sqm site at 386-412 William Street on the northern cusp of Melbourne's CBD, the development to be known simply as '388 William' will see a change of use from residential to commercial, with the original hotel component retained as per approved plans.
Already this month we have seen Charter Hall apply for a dual commercial tower scheme across 555 Collins Street and 55 King Street on the western edge of the Hoddle Grid, superseding a failed residential scheme.
Founders of MIT Group Holdings, Shesh Ghale and his wife Jamuna Gurung have retained Elenberg Fraser as the architects for 388 William, with only minor cosmetic changes to the endorsed design and change of use sought. This is to allow for the creation of contiguous flexible floorplates of up to 2,800 sqm.
"We are just in-filling between the towers for the bigger floor plates required by offices, so we're working in anticipation of approval."
- Shesh Ghale, via the AFR
Overall, 20,000 sqm NLA of A-grade office space will be provided across levels 2-10 with MIT Holdings seeking tenants for the office space - Colliers International and JLL have been charged with the leasing campaign.
A five-star hotel with 290 keys will occupy the remaining floors above, while retail will also be provided to the lower floors within the shell of the existing former Mazda dealership.
388 William will be targeting a 5 Star Green Star Rating and 5 Star NABERS Energy Rating and featuring a high-tech building management system. Tenants in the building will also have access to the hotel facilities which are set to include a pool, gym, Rooftop Bar, amongst others.
Sinclair Brook has been appointed to manage the project on behalf of MIT with site works expected to commence this year and targeting a 2022 completion.