The 200 metre club revisited

The 200 metre club revisited
Mark BaljakMarch 17, 2017

Two almost forgotten planning applications for substantial skyscrapers have re-emerged over the last month, prompting Urban.com.au to once again highlight the very healthy number of 200 metre plus skyscrapers in the pipeline for Melbourne

Most recently, 57-63 Exhibition Street which was first submitted during August 2014, is still active with Salta Properties backing the Bates Smart-designed skyscraper which would nudge 204m if approved. City of Melbourne have brought the project back into the spotlight via their Future Melbourne Committee, and have provided in principal support for the project subject to a number of conditions.

One condition being that the Planning Minister reduce the tower's height to 182m. In its current form at 204m, 57-63 Exhibition Street is valued at $255 million and includes 185 hotel suites and 119 apartments within the slim tower.

The 200 metre club revisited
Artist's impression of 57-63 Exhibition Street. Planing image: Bates Smart

Also recently before the Future Melbourne Committee was 158-164 City Road, Southbank whose planning history spans back to 2010. Approval at 43 levels was granted along the way, although proponent Eastern International Property Development is still pursuing a taller 69 level, 216m scheme that would yield 556 dwellings, 96 serviced apartments, offices and a supermarket.

The Future Melbourne Committee indicated a lack of support for the higher scheme earlier this month.

The 200 metre club revisited
Artist's impression of 158 City Road. Planing image: Elenberg Fraser

With light shed upon the two applications above, and with a number of other potential entrants having their height reduced below the 200m mark, an updated list of towers at 200m plus or above across inner Melbourne is provided below.

Name/Address

Height

Status

1 Queensbridge Street, Southbank323Approved
51-65 Clarke Street, Southbank228Planning
54 Clarke Street, Southbank244Approved
70 Southbank Boulevard, Southbank319Construction
158 City Road, Southbank216Planning
38 Freshwater Place, Southbank273Planning 
93-119 Kavanagh Street, Southbank226 Sales
88 Queensbridge Street, Southbank208Sales
168 Victoria Street, Carlton237Construction
111-125 A'beckett Street, Melbourne210Approved
308 Exhibition Street, Melbourne254Planning
224 La Trobe Street, Melbourne267Construction
452 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne241Construction
450 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne 218Construction
380 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne218Sales
383 La Trobe Street, Melbourne242Approved
350 Queen Street, Melbourne246 Sales
250 Spencer Street, Melbourne270Sales
295-309 King Street, Melbourne208Approved
134 Spencer Street, Melbourne 249Construction
272-282 Queen Street, Melbourne 207Approved
183-189 A'beckett Street, Melbourne205Planning
150 Queen Street, Melbourne 226Delayed
640 Bourke Street, Melbourne273Planning
57-63 Exhibition Street, Melbourne204Planning

Although there's some conjecture over a number of projects (owing to contradictory or ambiguous information) such as 295 City Road, 97 Franklin Street and 466 Collins Street that have been left off the list, the number of projects confirmed and included above is still immense.

With a quarter of the 23 listed projects above including multiple towers over 200m or more, it's still conceivable that Melbourne will be sporting another 30 skyscrapers beyond 200m in height in the years to come. If nothing else it serves to demonstrate the immense change still to grip Melbourne's skyline.

Although rules that govern the design of tall towers across Southbank and the CBD have changed, there's still a veritable mountain of skyscrapers yet to fully take their place on Melbourne's skyline; interesting times ahead for our fair city!

As always feel free to provide corrections or additions to the list above.

The 200 metre club revisited
Melbourne's booming skyline on a sunny March day. Image: Ryan Seychell

Mark Baljak

Mark Baljak was a co-founder of Urban.com.au. He passed away on Thursday 8th of November 2018 after a battle with cancer. He was 37. Mark was a keen traveller, having visited all six permanently-inhabited continents and had a love of craft beer. One of his biggest passions was observing the change that has occurred in Melbourne over the past two decades. In that time he built an enormous library of photos, all taken by him, which tracked the progress of construction on building sites from across metropolitan Melbourne.

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