Designs for the next phase of Growland Group’s six tower Victoria Square residential development in Footscray have been released. As reported on Urban.com.au back in May, Fender Katsalidis were tasked with the design of the twin tower project, located within the Joseph Road precinct bound by Hopkins Street, the Maribyrnong River and the railway line.

The Joseph Road Precinct represents 15 hectares of developable land which has been identified as a Priority Development Zone in the Council’s Structure Plan for Footscray.

In launching stage three which will be known as VS03, Growland claims it has responded to buyer demand and a maturing apartment market. VS03 will feature a product mix and floor plans geared towards owner occupiers, who account for 80 per cent of the sales to date. 76 per cent of the apartments within stage three comprise two-bedroom, two-bathrooms, while all 86 apartments will feature floor plans larger than Melbourne’s average and have at least one car space, one storage cage and a private balcony ranging from eight to 13 sqm.

Fender Katsalidis have designed twin curvilinear towers which draw on Victoria Square’s riverside location along the Maribyrnong River, with full height windows maximising panoramic views over the river, the CBD and the bay beyond. VS04 will be released at a later date, with the first two stages achieving 90% sales success.

FOOTSCRAY’S streets have gentrified in recent years, but with house prices also soaring families and professional couples are increasingly turning to the apartment market. And one of the suburb’s biggest developments to date, Victoria Square, has changed its plans to accommodate them. RELATED: Victoria Square in inner west catching the eye of outer suburbs’ buyers Footscray penthouse apartments have first-home buyer price tags Growland chief executive Ronald Chan said while its first two stages were now 90 per cent sold, they were changing their approach to lower density and bigger — though still affordable apartments — for the third stage, named VS03. “Tower three is very different in terms of the number of apartments in the building,” Mr Chan said. The 13-storey tower is the shortest and will house 86 apartments, compared to 240 in the 24-storey first tower and 180 across the 21 levels of the second. While both of the preceding towers were taller, the latest one to hit the market will put more space into its residences, with 66 apartments — one in every four — featuring two-bedroom, two-bathroom floorplans. “In stage three we are targeting owner occupiers and first-home buyers, and we have found that two-bedroom and two-bathroom properties were very popular with young families and professional couples,” Mr Chan said. That translates to a 72sq m average internal size for the two-bedroom apartments, not including a balcony, carpark and storage space that comes with each residence. It has also translated to significant demand. Of the 13 apartments sold at a launch event earlier this month, 11 were two-bedroom designs.

Leading local developer Growland has appointed Kevin Parker as its development director as the company prepares to move into the next phase of its rapid expansion.

The move is reflective of Growland’s fast-paced ascent in the residential market and its goals for future growth; this year alone Growland will launch at least three new projects and the second stage of its $600 million mixed-use Footscray development Victoria Square.

Parker joins the team following 13 years as project director at Gallagher Jeffs, where he worked with Growland as a consultant to manage the planning and launch of both Victoria Square and Growland’s recent luxury St Kilda Road tower Neue Grand.

Parker’s new role will see him lead the development and sales teams across all projects, while implementing new internal processes and aiming to further grow the team.

Parker has a proven track record of leading teams and projects from planning through to completion, working on some of Melbourne’s most prominent projects including the first two stages of $700 million Queens Place, the $100 million Lucia Apartments in South Yarra and Aura Apartments in Melbourne’s CBD.

Growland’s dedication to creating quality projects that exceed expectations, and give residents homes that will last a lifetime, is just one of the reasons Parker says he is thrilled to be joining the team.

“ Working as a consultant with Growland, I was impressed with the team’s innovative approach to projects; the scale of projects they are delivering is also really exciting” said Parker.

“ The ability to work on a variety of mixed-use projects, from a hospitality and retail precinct to a 900-lot house and land estate, is a rare opportunity that not many developers offer and is a marker of the company’s desire to consistently raise the bar.

“ Moving into the position of development director, I look forward to taking a hands-on leadership role with these projects I’ve been working on for years.

“ Growland has achieved phenomenal growth in just five years, with a team that has more than tripled in size and a portfolio valued at over $3 billion – the sky is the limit for what the next few years could bring.

“ I believe the key to a successful project lies in the strength of its team, and I am proud to be leading the team through this next phase of growth and evolution.”

A Melbourne-based developer is set to build a 900-home estate in Tarneit aimed at first-home buyers.

Growland is planning the ‘Marigold’ estate on a 65-hectare site near the intersection of Derrimut and Dohertys roads.

The project has been described as “premium affordable housing targeted towards first-home buyers”, to be built alongside recreational parks, water features and wetlands.

The estate, which will be officially launched in November, will be rolled out across 20 stages.

Growland chief executive Ronald Chan said the company hoped the Marigold area would appeal to first-home buyers who wanted to avoid paying stamp duty (first-home buyers in Victoria are not required to pay stamp duty if they purchase a property for $600,000 or less).

“Our aim is for our purchasers to end up paying $600,000 and under for their house and land package,” Mr Chan said.

“The majority of owner-occupiers in Tarneit have a budget around $550,000 and this is what we work towards.

“We consulted our builder partners on design outcomes that meet both our neighbourhood aesthetics and have a reasonable cost to meet the budget of the first-home buyers.

“We understand owner-occupiers’ desire to be living in a community where every other house in the street has a level of standard, and our design guideline has been designed to achieve this.”

Mr Chan said that Tarneit “represents a fantastic opportunity for buyers”.

Melbourne-based Growland has bought a development site in Melbourne’s west for a $258 million residential project as the city’s housing market continues to fire.

The 26.18ha parcel in Fraser Rise, previously Plumpton, will see a 430-lot house and land development and is Growland’s second recent site purchase in Melbourne’s buoyant west. It purchased a site in Tarneit with plans for a 900-lot community to be launched this year.

The Tarneit project will offer premium affordable housing targeted towards first-home buyers, while the Plumpton community will feature larger lot sizes for second or third-home buyers, the company said.

Growland founder Bruce Chan said Melbourne’s land supply was critical to meeting national housing needs.

“According to the latest census data, there are over 100,000 people migrating to Victoria every year, indicating that the population will rise to almost 7.5 million by 2036,” Mr Chan said. “We will need a further estimated 50,000 homes each year to provide appropriate housing for this new group.”

Fraser Rise is one of the 11 new suburbs in the Melton growth area announced by the state government last year to accommodate population growth in the region.

The new suburb was previously part of the southern area of Plumpton, which houses 9230 people and is predicted to reach 240,000 people by 2031.

CoreLogic data shows house prices in the area have gone up by 10.94 per cent in the past 12 months. Growland has also developed the Victoria Square apartment project at Footscray with the first tower 90 per cent sold in five months.

Council approves amendments to $600 million development.

A SIX-TOWER residential, office and retail mega-complex with more than 900 dwellings has been given the green light to be built within Footscray’s Josephs Rd precinct.

The $600 million Victoria Square development, on Hopkins St, was first approved by Maribyrnong councilors in May 2017, but was brought back to the council last month to approve amendments to the plan.

The amendments saw dwellings increased to 931, commercial floor space almost doubled from 3297sq m to 6012sq m, and car spaces increased from 755 to 1075.

Tower heights were also increased, with the tallest to stand at 25 storeys.

Footscray Traders Association president Stuart Lucca-Pope said the development made sense but he did have some concerns.

“More people in the area means more trade for local businesses, but we have to make sure arking and public transport keeps up with demand,” he said. “The complex will also have a significant retail sector which we hope can be filled by local businesses run by local families rather than chain stores.”

Maribyrnong Mayor Cuc Lam said the council was pleased with the outcome.

“It is in line with the vision for the Footscray Metropolitan Activity Centre,” she said.

The development was designed by Kavellaris Urban Design on behalf of developer Growland.

Growland chief executive Ronald Chan said the decision to expand the original plans stemmed from wanting to meet the needs of the market.

“Growland is aiming to create a strong new community at Victoria Square and add to the vibrancy of Footscray as it continues its transformation,” Mr Chan said.

“Our goal in creating this project has always been to deliver high quality, affordable housing to Footscray and to do so with the community front of mind.”

Construction on the first tower is planned to start in mid-2018 and be completed by 2020.