Hotspot Video: Smith Street apartment boom in focus
Urban.com.au couldn't possibly write a finer preamble to today's video/article than what is found on the exceptional Smith Street Life website which dedicates itself to all things Smith Street. Regarding the increasing number of apartment developments on and immediately surrounding the famed strip, the website states of the Street itself:
Smith Street's public face is under reconstruction, with at least three major development works in progress presenting a shift to Smith Street's cultural and community evolution.
Smith Street Life: The changing faces of Smith Street
Melbourne’s oldest shopping strip, Smith Street’s revival is likely to be enhanced with construction taking place at various stages, and faces, along Smith Street's historical façades.
With history and heritage dating back to the early 1800’s there is no doubt that Smith Street’s changing facades are providing a new pillar in Melbourne’s history. The changing identity of Smith Street, from a place of diversity, history and heritage, towards a more likely gentrified future is reflected in three different property developments each with their own different approach.
The newest addition to Grimshaw Architects Melbourne office and regular Urban.com.au contributor Laurence Dragomir along with Neometro's founder Jeff Provan feature in Urban.com.au's most recent video - produced by our partners The Video Agency - Hotspots: Smith Street
Hot Spot: Smith Street from The Video Agency on Vimeo.
See below a summary of the aforementioned 16 current apartment projects on and around Smith Street.
| Under Assessment | Registration and Sales |
| 229 Smith Street | 9 Smith Street (moved to sales post video) |
| Approved | Oxford & Peel - 22 Peel Street |
| 7 Hodgson Street | Tapestry - 80 Stanley Street |
| 195 Wellington Street | Haus - 416 Smith Street |
| 221 Kerr Street | 41 Peel Street |
| 237 Smith Street | Little Ox - 2 Johnston Street |
| 305-311 Smith Street | Under Construction |
| Yorkshire - 1 Robert Street | 132 Smith Street |
| You & I - 450 Smith Street | |
| Oxley - 46 Stanley Street |
With 9 Smith Street the most recent project to proceed to sales, it breaks the sequence of all projects currently at sales or under construction being located on the eastern side of Smith Street.
It would be an interesting social study to track over the coming months and years how the influx of new dwellings and residents will affect Smith Street's current dynamic. With an abundance of suitable development sites on and within close proximity to Smith Street, the trend of higher density living and increased population looks set to continue.