A 21st-century village set to take shape beneath the Nylex clock
It was more than 180 years ago when John Batman sailed up the Yarra River and decided the spot now known as the Melbourne CBD was “the place for a village”.
Last year, developer Joe Russo’s Caydon Property Group made the same assessment for a site a little more upstream, in Cremorne.
About two kilometres east of town, the famous property on Gough Street, known for its Nylex clock atop 12-level silos, is set to make way for a mixed-use complex containing residential, office, retail and community space.
To be known as The Malt District (the property included an operational malting factory, when Caydon bought it), the $1 billion redevelopment will also be accessible via a yet-to-be opened ferry.
It is also walking distance to the Richmond train station, which is a short trip to the CBD. In the immediate vicinity, south of the Yarra River, is Forrest Hill, a new and high-density pocket of South Yarra (it is in this area that Financial Review Rich Lister, National Basketball League owner and developer Larry Kestelman tried to get a heliport built atop an apartment building under construction on the corner of Toorak Road and Chapel Street).
The first stage of three development stages for The Malt District is known as Coppins Corner and includes a mixed-use, 15- and 12-storey split-level building with one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, and SoHo units for small business owners.
A landscaped area will also be built, allowing a connection through to the centre of the site, with retail space, supermarket, convenience store and cafe also to be built on the ground floor.
Stage two, which will incorporate a majority of the historic buildings, will include two residential structures and a rooftop bar and restaurant beneath the Nylex clock. A hotel is set to be developed into the ex-VB silos, while tracts of land around it will be configured as offices, shops, a micro brewery, gastro pub and cafe.
The third stage of The Malt District includes a dedicated stand-alone office building, set for the high-profile southern end of the site which also abuts a Monash Freeway on-ramp. Designed by Hayball Architects, the 10,000-square-metre building will be reminiscent of converted warehouse spaces, Caydon says.
The tiny pocket of Cremorne, at the southern end of Richmond, includes the Swan Street retail strip, with bars and cafes, and is walking distance to the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
