As the hammer falls on the Bondi cottages, The Block returns to South Melbourne with sky high hopes

The Block All Stars 2013  auction contestants had their take-home earnings halved on the 2012 prize pool.

The Tasman Street, Bondi contestants racked up $815,000 in profit while back in the 2012 South Melbourne extravaganza the contestants racked up a combined $1.7 million in profit.

The ratings of the winner's finale were also down at 2.1 million compared to the 2.4 million viewers on metropolitan televisions last year.

With its telling third bedroom, Phil and Amity won the Block 2013 All Stars series with their Bondi cottage selling for $1.67 million. It was $295,000 over its conservative reserve price, following a pragmatic decision implemented after its disastrous 2011 Richmond three out of four fail to sell auction finale.

And no sooner than auctioneer Damien Cooley brought down the hammer on Phil and Amity's win, there was confirmation from Channel 9 of the seventh series. Property Observer suggests something quite risky, albeit a return to apartments.

Five couples fitting out five whole floor apartments is the next offering from The Block 2013 producers. In Block parlance they describe the floor plates as"humungous."

It marks a return to the South Melbourne precinct. It's going to be the conversion of a recently closed 41-room motel at the north-east corner of Park Street and Eastern Road.

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Local agents tell Property Observer it will be a challenge finding the right buying mix.

But the show's producer Watercress were keen to shake up the tried and tested formula by buying the entire six-storey apartment tower at 142 Park Street in South Melbourne to renovate.

Watercress will keep the ground floor, so that all contestants who've already been on-site, will face similiar circumstances in transforming a drab 1974 motel into a luxury apartment tower.

Property Observer gathers the initial filming scheduling was amended after the free-spirited Fairfax Media property journalist, Chris Vedelago revealed the secret Park Street location before filming had commenced. Most journalists play the secrecy script as desired by the television station.

Vedelago reported property records show the production company spent $6.71 million for the four-star bizMOTEL, which was formerly the Kingsway Motel.

The Block have endeavoured to utilise the twitter hashtag #skyhigh as an early marketing tool.