Camberwell: Suburban development for 12-storey tower hits the market

Developer Above Zero is selling the site at 697-699 Burke Road, after a protracted campaign to secure council approval.

Cera Stribley Architects recently described the green light as “the area’s most substantial approval in over a decade”.

The firm’s design honours the streetscape, and local history “while setting a new standard for future developments in the area”, it said.

Planning approvals for projects of scale are notoriously difficult in the area, meaning there is a limited supply of high-quality apartments. However, a few have popped up recently and the market is showing demand from local apartment buyers, according to marketing agents JLL.

The project, to be known as Camberwell House, is being sold by Jesse Radisich, Josh Rutman, MingXuan Li and Maddie Pizzey. It will feature retail on the ground floor, with six levels of commercial office and seven floors of penthouse-style apartments above. 

“It is very difficult to find a site that offers planning approval for a project of such significant scale as Burke Road, but also provides scope for developers to achieve very high sales rates and or rents,” said Radisich, director of Victorian capital markets at JLL.

“The market is starved of such opportunities, and there has already been quite a bit of interest in this site.”

At the address an existing five-floor office building with adjoining single-level retail building on-site provides valuable short-term holding income.

Rutman, the head of capital markets in Victoria at JLL, said the site was unique because it offered great city skyline views to the west and lovely eastern suburbs views to the east.

“The view lines demonstrated from atop the existing five-level building alone provide a wonderful inspiration for achievable project view lines from the completed project, which will be enjoyed all the way up to the approved 12 levels.”

Camberwell has long been one of Melbourne’s most desirable suburbs, with a median house price of $2.7 million and an apartment median of $953,000.

The planning application submitted in March 2023 faced initial resistance from the council over visibility and vehicle access concerns for the commercial tenancies. Over 15 months, architects and developers changed the design to address these issues. The building’s design was altered to preserve neighbouring views, adding landscaped buffer zones, removing a proposed 13th story, and increasing parking spaces from 180 to 214.

In recent years, the area has seen more luxury apartments delivered, including the adjoining Aerial apartments, which became the tallest building in the City of Boroondara following its completion in late 2012.

It consists of two towers reaching 14 and nine levels in height. Designed by Wood Marsh Architects, they boast a rooftop pool and 144 5-star energy rated apartments. The project is next door to a heritage-building turned restaurant bounded by Riversdale Road and Burke Road at a six-way intersection.

Another recently completed project, Victoria Hill, by local developer Time & Place, features 25 residences and has set a new benchmark for off-the-plan sales in Camberwell, including a $15 million penthouse sale.

The Camberwell House development is expected to attract interest from local and overseas developers.

Open-air Camberwell Junction is home to 400 stores and 300 businesses, with high-end retailers, cafes and restaurants as well as the art-deco Rivoli Cinema and the Camberwell Market. An $18 million refurbishment has benefited nearby Camberwell Place shopping centre, formerly The Well, turning it into a food and dining hub.