R & F Property Australia enters the Box Hill apartment market
Weeks after launching its maiden Melbourne residential project, Guangzhou-backed R & F Property Australia has availed itself as the buyer of Box Hill's 9-11 Prospect Street.
The developer has taken the permitted site back to planning with the intentions of pushing through a new design conceived by Hayball. The site was offered for sale over a year ago with approval for an Artisan Architects-designed 25 level mixed use development in place.
Sold by Savills for $11,932 per square metre, the 1,475 square metre site was noted as sold to a China-backed developer at the time.
The reworked Hayball design "does not represent a significant departure from the existing approved proposal on the site and continues to warrant support" according to urban planner Message Consultants. R & F Property Australia will be invariably hoping that the new design, which effectively adheres to the dimensions of the permitted design, is looked upon favourably by Council.
Much like the approved design, the developer is looking for the nod create a 25 storey mixed use development above five basement car park levels. Also mirroring the approved design, flexible office spaces will account for levels 2 and 3, followed by apartments above.
187 apartments, 2,860 square metres of net leasable area, 217 car parking spaces and 79 bicycle spaces were within the initial Artisan Architects-designed tower. Comparatively R & F Property Australia's reworked application is eyeing 193 apartments, commercial space over levels 2 and 3, plus provisions for 204 vehicles and 127 bicycles.
Of the 193 intended apartments, the split sees a 14% reduction in one-bedroom apartments relative to the approved scheme, with a corresponding 12% increase in two-bedroom apartments and a 2% increase to three-bedroom apartments.
Amenities have been boosted within the Hayball design, and see a lap pool, gym, sauna and communal lounge in place.
According to Hayball, "the existing approved plans have been revised to improve the internal amenity and livability for the occupants. The building is expressed externally as a refined, coherent and elegant form."
Further, "the arrangement of active frontage along the ground plane and the integrated landscape response to the podium levels improves the street-scape and the pedestrian experience. Residential amenity is improved with the introduction of natural light and ventilation to all residential corridors in the tower levels.
Simplification of construction within the building further improves the residential amenity by maximised ceiling heights and increasing daylight penetration within apartments."
R & F Property Australia's box Hill unveiling comes little more than a month after the firm officially launched Live City Footscray to the market.
Expected within the first stage of Live City are 208 apartments with builder LU Simon tasked with delivering an initial 15 level tower. future buildings across the site are expected to range between eight and eighteen storeys, with an overall apartment count of approximately 1,450, in addition to retail, commercial office space and public uses.
Lead image: Savills