Docklands - Boom town

By Sunny Liu and Khiara Elliott

The release of two new City of Melbourne research reports last month shows that Docklands is surging in economic and development growth.

An examination of both the latest Docklands Census of Land Use and Employment (CLUE) report and Development Activity Monitor (DAM) map the extraordinary progress of our suburb.

The former industrial wasteland is now a buzzy residential and office area, with 784,200sqm of office and 624,200sqm of residential accommodation making up almost 40 per cent of the total built area in Docklands.

Data collected from the latest DAM report shows that Docklands currently boasts 125,182sqm of retail space – unsurprising when you consider the Harbour Town precinct as well as the many other retail hubs that comprise such an essential part of our community.

According to DAM data, a further 56,496sqm of retail space is on the way, with 10,988sqm applied for, 14,925sqm approved and 30,583sqm currently underway.

The number of residential dwellings in Docklands has doubled over the past 10 years, soaring from 3100 in 2006 to 6837 this year.

And that’s only the beginning.  A further 2252 apartments are under construction.  A further 6577 have approvals and application have been made for a further 2313 apartments.  The report only reveals that a further 1923 apartments have been “mooted” for Docklands.

These apartments translate into many more residential floors being added to our soaring skyline.

The DAM data shows that in May some 288 residential floors were underway.  A further additional 757 floors of residential development have been approved and applications have been made for a further 272 residential floors.

Employment in Docklands is also looking bright. The number of jobs in Docklands has almost tripled over the last decade, up from 14,670 in 2006 to 58,220 in 2016. Of these jobs, 41,720 are full time and 16,500 are non-full time.
And upcoming construction is predicted to add even more to our already impressive employment statistics.

It comes as no surprise that finance and insurance has been ranked the top employing industry in Docklands, representing more than 22,000 jobs. Docklands is the headquarters of several big corporations including Commonwealth, NAB, ANZ and Medibank.

Gender diversity in Docklands’ offices is slightly skewed, where men constitute 57 per cent of the workforce.

Docklands is known for its picturesque outdoor spaces and this was confirmed by the latest CLUE report that revealed that there is currently 148,000sqm of outdoor space in the area. Of this, 102,300sqm is dedicated to outdoor sports and recreation and 45,700sqm dedicated to parks and reserves.

However, almost 20 per cent of the Docklands area is made up by car park and there are still more than 100,000sqm of “unused” space.

The CLUE report gives comprehensive data on land use, employment and economic activity across the City of Melbourne and assists with Melbourne’s business planning and policy development.

The DAM report is released twice a year, however focuses solely on development activity in the City of Melbourne. The DAM report also provides developments that are awaiting town approval, have town approval and those that are currently under construction as well as completed projects.

Comparison of both data sets shows that Docklands’ continued growth and expansion is of a highly impressive standard.