VCAT Approves CASA’s Fitzroy Heritage Apartment Scheme

A 124-apartment restoration of historic heritage buildings has cleared a major planning hurdle after VCAT approved developer CASA’s proposal for one of the largest landholdings in Melbourne’s Fitzroy retail precinct.

The approval follows an assessment of the Woods Bagot-designed proposal for the 4200sq m island site at 243 Smith Street by the tribunal.

The site includes the facade of the Collingwood Coffee Palace that opened in 1879 as Australia’s first coffee palace.

Henry Ackman and Company acquired the property in 1887 and expanded its furniture business on the site. The company grew from pawnbroking to become a major furniture retailer with shops, warehouses and factories on both sides of Smith Street during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

A planning application was filed with the Yarra City Council in 2024 but was put before VCAT as the proposal exceeded the Design and Development Overlay height limits by two storeys.

CASA’s project will restore and reimagine the historic Ackmans Furniture Warehouse at 243-247 Smith Street and Collingwood Coffee Palace facades at 249-251 Smith Street, behind which will be a collection of one, two and three-bedroom homes that “balance architectural sophistication with timeless character”.

The apartment mix will be five terrace homes, 33 three-bedroom apartments, 57 two-bedroom apartments and 29 one-bedroom apartments. 

Woods Bagot’s design responds to the site’s four frontages on Smith, Hodgson, St David and Gore Streets and will retain the 1882 heritage facades while adding contemporary residential components.

The development includes five private terrace homes on Gore Street, with lofts and apartments accessed via St David Street.

The ground floor will include a supermarket and flexible commercial tenancy. 

The design team also includes landscaping by Oculus and interiors by Flack Studio.

▲ The heritage facades at 243 Smith Street, Fitzroy, formerly the Ackmans Furniture Warehouse and later a Safeway supermarket.

CASA development director Matt Walton said “every detail, from the restoration of the heritage facades to the tone and texture of the materials, has been carefully considered to create an enduring piece of architecture”.

“The project aims to complete the missing piece of Smith Street’s urban fabric and contribute meaningfully to Fitzroy’s legacy for decades to come,” he said.

The developer plans to launch the project to market and begin demolition works early next year.

CASA is operated by GFM, which formed the CASA brand in 2022 to deliver build-to-sell projects.

GFM was set up in 2010 as a private real estate fund backed by global institutional investment. It was a pioneer in the Australian build-to-rent market with its HOME brand in Melbourne and Sydney.

CASA now has more than $1 billion in its pipeline across NSW and Victoria.

The developer is actively developing four sites, including a Bates Smart-designed $350-million, 20-storey project at 671 Chapel Street at South Yarra.