North Melbourne social housing redevelopment unveiled

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One-hundred-and-twenty-seven homes  were opened at the Abbotsford St site on September 22. 

These one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom homes mark the first stage of the Academy North Melbourne redevelopment.

The development is set to be a mix of social and private housing, including both apartments and townhouses, with 17 market-rate townhouses are expected to be finished in the coming weeks.

Academy North Melbourne was originally built in the 1950s as a dedicated social housing estate with 112 walk-up apartments.

The redevelopment has increased social housing on the site by 13 per cent and has modernised the properties, making them more energy efficient.

The development also includes a publicly accessible green space.

“These 127 homes will provide safe, modern and stable housing for Victorian families, in a great spot close to schools, transport and services,” Member for Northern Metropolitan Sheena Watts said.

More than 480 jobs were created over the course of construction.

The development, which is a partnership between Homes Victoria, MAB Corporation and HousingFirst, faced criticism last year due to reported delays.

The social housing component of the development was originally projected to be complete by mid-2023, and the market-rate townhouses were due for completion in early 2024.

Last year, Greens State MP for Melbourne Ellen Sandell criticised the demolition of existing social housing to make way for the redevelopment, calling the loss of public housing a “tragedy”.

“We are in a housing crisis, with more than 130,000 people waiting for a public housing unit, yet all Labor has done is give more profits to property developers while the public housing waitlist gets longer and longer,” Ms Sandell said at the time.

The project is part of the state government’s Public Housing Renewal Program.

The state government has invested $6.3 billion in social housing through the Big Housing Build, which was announced in November 2020. •

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