North Melbourne residents rally against Villiers St build-to-rent project

A proposed development of more than 350 build-to-rent apartments on the former Australian Red Cross site at 23–47 Villiers St in North Melbourne has sparked concern among local residents.

The site was sold in 2023 to real estate investment firm Sentinel, which is proposing to build 353 apartments across two buildings comprising 11 and 12 storeys at the North Melbourne site as part of its Australian build-to-rent venture with Dutch pension fund manager PGGM.

The proposal, which has been submitted to Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny for approval, includes 264 car parking spaces, 445 bicycle parking spaces as well as a publicly accessible "communal heart" urban green space between Mary and Harcourt streets.

But local residents have argued that the development’s size is disproportionate and fails to align with local planning, overlooks community needs and fails to meet fundamental standards of liveability.

“The area was originally designated for a three-storey development limit,” resident Mark Wood told North West City News. “Something of this size and bulk is not doing anything for the needs of housing.”

While the project is being pitched as a build-to-rent solution, Mr Wood said that it offered little in the way of helping address the housing crisis in Melbourne.

“Currently in the area, there's around 1900 places available for rent. This isn't actually solving the problem,” Mr Wood said, adding that a major point of contention among residents was how the traffic impact assessment had overlooked critical safety and access concerns.

“That traffic report didn’t mention in any way, shape or form the fact that this is going to impact traffic in the [North Melbourne Primary] school zone,” Mr Wood said.

“It also didn’t mention other traffic-related issues such as bike lanes, which are very heavily used.”

The developer is understood to have requested a ministerial exemption to reduce the on-site parking requirement, prompting fears about increased congestion in an already strained area.

“The amount of unsold apartments in the City of Melbourne is quite massive, I don't know what the developers are actually going to get out of it," Mr Wood said.

We’re not anti-development, we just think the development needs to be appropriate.

Victorian Greens leader and Melbourne MP Ellen Sandell has scheduled a community meeting on April 15 to hear directly from residents and better understand their concerns about the proposed development.

“A number of residents have contacted me concerned about this issue, and I’ll be holding a community meeting to learn more,” she told North West City News.

“Residents should feel free to contact me if they’d like to attend.”

The plans are expected to be considered by City of Melbourne councillors at a Future Melbourne Committee (FMC) meeting in the coming weeks.

“North Melbourne is one of our most enviable suburbs, with beautiful homes, parks and gardens right on the doorstep of the CBD,” Deputy Lord Mayor Roshena Campbell said.

“This is a prime site for additional housing, so it’s important any application is thoroughly assessed to ensure it benefits the community and is an appropriate addition to this historic neighbourhood.”

A Sentinel Australia spokesperson said the project represented a "meaningful opportunity to deliver a significant boost in quality housing supply and choice for the area" that would "support the rapidly growing health and education precinct and more broadly, Melbourne's housing needs."

"We look forward to leveraging our experienced build-to-rent platform to transform this well-located inner-city site into a vibrant and sustainable community.” •