A giant step forward for Melbourne Quarter

The largest apartment tower to be developed and built by Docklands Lendlease in Australia reached practical completion in September.

Standing at 40 storeys high in a prime position on Flinders St and a short walk from Southern Cross Station, the 100 per cent sold East Tower is the first residential building within Lendlease’s $2.9 billion Melbourne Quarter precinct at Batman’s Hill.

Developed as a joint venture partnership with Mitsubishi Estate Asia, the Fender Katsalidis designed tower comprises 719 one-, two- and three- bedroom apartments and boasts expansive views across Melbourne’s CBD, Port Phillip Bay and the Yarra River.

In addition, it’s home to Club MQ, which will give new Docklands residents exclusive access to three floors of resort style amenities including private dining spaces, a resident’s lounge, theatre, 25-metre pool, spa, sauna and gym.

The restoration of one of the city’s most significant heritage walls forms a part of the Melbourne Quarter development and the completion of East Tower has seen works to the wall along Flinders Street completed.

Constructed in 1890 by Victorian Railways, the 174-metre retaining wall has been secured, preserved and integrated into Melbourne Quarter as part of a new grand arrival experience to Melbourne Quarter’s residential precinct.

Lendlease’s managing director of development and property Matthew Mears said the achievement of practical completion on East Tower was the culmination of more than 1,280,000 people hours of construction work.

“The completion and sell out of East Tower signals not just a key milestone in the creation of Melbourne Quarter, but also a moment in Lendlease’s 61-year history in Australia,” he said.

“It is another example of our capability to deliver large-scale mixed-use urban precincts like Melbourne Quarter through our integrated business model and deepen our expertise and sophistication in creating great places.”

“An indication of the market demand for quality apartments in the Melbourne Quarter precinct is that all 719 apartments were sold prior to completion of the building.”

Once complete, the Melbourne Quarter precinct will be home to around 3000 residents and include around 140,000 sqm of commercial space for more than 14,000 employees •