Ground Lease Model
Client:
Citta Property Group, Tetris Capital, Homes Victoria, Building Communities & Icon
Pioneering public housing
This ground-breaking public housing redevelopment project across Victoria marks a significant step forward for the sector.
We’ve collaborated with Homes Victoria, Building Communities and Icon to redevelop multiple public housing sites through the innovative Ground Lease Model (GLM). This model aims to deliver a diverse mix of housing, including social housing, market rental and specialist disability accommodation, across metropolitan Melbourne in Flemington, Brighton and Prahran for phase 1 and Port Melbourne, Prahran, South Yarra and Hampton East for phase 2.
Reimagining public housing in high need areas
The challenge was to reimagine and enhance public housing in these three high-need areas, ensuring a sustainable, inclusive, and vibrant mix of housing. The project aimed to deliver new homes and create long-term social and economic value by optimising the use of government land while meeting the diverse needs of the community.
GLM1 is set to deliver 1,110 new homes, including :
- 619 brand new social housing dwellings
- 126 affordable homes
- 365 market rental homes, including 52 Specialist Disability Accommodation dwellings
GLM2 involved the redevelopment of four existing social housing sites, delivering 1,370 new homes, including:
- 669 social housing dwellings
- 182 affordable homes
- 529 market rental homes, including 56 Specialist Disability Accommodation dwellings
The Ground Lease Model required the Victorian State Government to lease the land to a not-for-profit group, which would finance, design, construct, manage and maintain the housing for 40 years before returning the land and dwellings to Homes Victoria.
Urbis is proud to have facilitated the suite of complex approvals for this groundbreaking project.
From inspiration to implementation
We adopted a holistic approach, providing comprehensive planning, economics and design advice from the bid phase through to design, implementation and construction. Our team supported the project through a complex planning process, preparing Development Plans, concurrent planning permit applications and managing approvals.
We collaborated closely with the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) Homes Victoria, the Office of the Victorian Government of Architects (OVGA) and other stakeholders to optimise new planning provisions (Clauses 52.20 and 53.20), ensuring a streamlined approvals process. Our economic advice informed project feasibility, while our preliminary planning advice shaped the strategy to secure planning approval.
Early collaboration with architects and key stakeholders ensured a bespoke design outcome for each site, which was well received by authorities. This enabled a positive outcome from community consultation and ultimately a smooth planning process for these projects, which are now forming a vibrant addition to the skyline of each precinct.
Creating vibrant and inclusive communities
The redevelopment of the Flemington, Brighton, Prahran, Port Melbourne, South Yarra and Hampton East sites will result in the delivery of 2,480 new homes, including 1,269 social housing dwellings, 306 affordable homes and 835 market rental homes, with 107 specialist disability accommodation dwellings. Our involvement ensured that planning approvals were swiftly granted, enabling the timely delivery of much-needed housing and contributing to the creation of vibrant, inclusive communities.
