The Kirrip Park cluster

June 24, 2022

The Kirrip Park cluster

Delta is preparing the site at 15 to 85 Gladstone St in Montague for development.

Delta at work on 15 – 85 Gladstone St. View from Kirrip Park, Gravity Tower in the background

Planning for the huge 9,356 sqm site goes back to May 2013 when Matthew Guy was planning minister. He approved a development of four towers. At that time, the site was occupied by Carlins car sales.

Since then the site has been through several owners, and the towers have gone from four to three in subsequent planning processes. In March 2021, Chip Eng Seng subsidiary CEL Australia sold the site to Greystar for $65 million.

Greystar is an international real estate developer and manager based in Charleston, South Carolina. specialising in build-to-rent.

This build-to-rent project will create 700 apartments across the three towers. The Victorian Government has introduced incentives for this type of development. From 1 January 2022 until 31 December 2031, eligible build-to-rent developments will receive a 50 per cent land tax concession for up to 30 years and a full exemption from Absentee Owner Surcharge over the same period.

The build-to-rent model does not rely on pre-sales for financing. Instead, finance is drawn largely from institutional investors such as superannuation funds. The whole development is retained in single ownership which manages the development and provides services. Build-to-rent is said to provide more options for stable longer term renting. Early indications are that rents tends to be more expensive as more amenities and services are offered.

It is squelchy underfoot in Kirrip Park after all the rain we’ve had. This particularly damp spot in Montague has attracted the interest of designers and artists.

At the centre of the Park is Shifting Sands, a temporary installation created by a Melbourne based design collective, EXCX.

The design draws attention to the risks of storm flooding and coastal erosion in urban environments and the impacts of climate change. It is intended to be a messenger of crisis and emergency and also a messenger of collective action and cooperation.

The installation is a seating area and playground made of one thousand sandbags, simple woven objects associated with temporary infrastructure, weather emergencies, and cooperative efforts in the face of crisis.

The bags are dyed in five shades of blue and laid in tiers representing the relative probabilities of storm surge events flooding the low-lying park by the year 2100. A flood level indicator in the centre registers the height above sea level and acts as a beacon.

The installation encloses a sandpit the size of a living room, welcoming nearby Montague residents, visitors and students from South Melbourne Primary School.¹

Students were drawn to the structure in their after school play, climbing, hiding, chasing.

Shifting Sand, an installation by EXCX in Kirrip Park – South Melbourne Primary School and Montague Square in the background

On the Buckhurst St edge of Kirrip Park is Ian Strange’s first permanent public sculpture, Waterline. It navigates the scientific past and present of the local South Melbourne area. The sculpture is constructed to replicate a local roof peak. It explores local stories, the history of flooding within the area as well as the current threats of a rising water table. The sculpture also addresses climate change and the possibility of future urban flooding.²

Ian Strange’s work, Waterlines, on the margin of Kirrip Park

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¹ acknowledging the text from EXCX. Visit the Shifting Sand installation on the EXCX website in two stages: (1) Kirrip Park (2) the installation or on instagram @_excx. EXCX ( Extra_Contextual ) is Paul van Herk, Shereen Amin, Matthew Tibballs and Lauren Garner.

² Waterlines by Ian Strange

Follow the chronology of 15 – 85 Gladstone St on Port Houses.