Plans lodged for $250m hotel and office project on Toorak Road
Melbourne developer Oreana Group has lodged plans for a $250 million mixed-use development on Toorak Road in South Yarra that will include a 116-room luxury hotel and an office tower just a short walk from the Chapel Street retail strip.
Oreana, led by Steven Sass, swooped on the 1853 sq m site next door to South Yarra railway station in May last year, paying about $35 million.
The site is home to South Yarra Square, a strata-titled sandstone retail and office property with a European-style piazza fronting Toorak Road that Oreana will incorporate into its project, should it be approved by the City of Stonnington.
The 30,000 sq m proposed development, designed by Fender Katsalidis Architects, will retain the existing Italianate and mock-Tudor building facades beneath a new 17-level building rising above.
This will offer 9300 sq m of lettable office space, 1400 sq m of retail and 4200 sq m for the luxury hotel, where room balconies will face onto Toorak Road.
There will also be a new public piazza, as well as four levels of basement car parking.
Amenities will include end-of-trip facilities, a day spa and wellness centre, and a terrace pool on level eight that will offer users city views.
Toorak Road has become a hotspot for mixed-use projects over the past couple of years, led by Vicland’s $600 million office and retail development in Toorak Village and Orchard Piper’s acquisition this year of the Mercedes-Benz dealership site on nearby Carters Avenue that creates the footprint for more than $550 million in residential and commercial development close to Melbourne’s most affluent suburb.
A number of projects are also in planning on nearby Chapel Street, including the $1.5 billion redevelopment of the Jam Factory by Newmark Capital, Qualitas and Rich Lister Tim Gurner. The rejigged project includes 22,500 sq m of office space, four residential buildings and a five-star hotel with 180 keys.
Mr Sass said Oreana’s plans offered an “exciting new vision” for the South Yarra Square site, which was developed in the 1980s and which offers three street frontages spanning 132 metres.
“At this stage, we anticipate construction starting in early 2024, with construction taking around 24 months,” he said. The project’s construction budget is $105 million.″
Mr Sass said last year: “We’ve long held the view that this part of Toorak Road offers enormous potential. We’ve seen the emergence of this in recent years with several larger scale projects transforming the precinct.”
Oreana has a diversified portfolio of projects that include master-planned subdivisions, retail centres and childcare facilities.
