Apartment Plan Revealed for Amalgamated Cremorne Site
Plans are now before the state for a 14-storey mixed-use scheme proposed for Melbourne’s inner-east.
Proposed is a 14-storey tower for a consolidated site at 188-202 Swan Street, Cremorne.
The $50-million-plus scheme proposed by 188 Swan Street Holdings is now with the Victorian Minister for Planning under the Department of Transport and Planning’s Development Facilitation Program.
The irregularly shaped site spans multiple titles and holds frontages to Swan Street, Railway Place and Royal Place. It is within the Swan Street Major Activity Centre about 2km from the Melbourne CBD.
Designed by Cox Architecture with planning by Contour Consultants, the development would deliver 165 apartments across a mix of studio, one, two and three-bedroom typologies.
The ground level would feature retail tenancies fronting Swan Street and a north–south pedestrian link, alongside a rear commercial tenancy that could be adapted for community use.
Resident amenity would include communal indoor and outdoor spaces at level one as well as a rooftop terrace, supported by landscaped areas and shared facilities.
The scheme includes 196 car parking spaces and 113 bicycle spaces within the four-level basement accessed from Railway Place.
A key feature of the proposal is a publicly accessible pedestrian connection between Swan Street and Railway Place, designed to improve permeability and link through to nearby rail services at East Richmond Station.
The site is within a predominantly commercial precinct surrounded by retail, hospitality and entertainment uses, with access to tram services and close to Richmond and Burnley stations.
The application is being assessed under Clause 53.23 for significant residential development with affordable housing, which requires at least 10 per cent of homes or an equivalent contribution.
Planning documents show the project would exceed preferred height controls but argue this is justified by the site’s consolidation, activity centre zoning and proximity to public transport.
The development would replace low-rise commercial buildings but retain part of a heritage-listed Victorian shopfront while a recessed upper-level form would minimise visual impact on the streetscape.
According to ASIC documents, 188 Swan Street Holdings is a vehicle for Ivan and Kathy (Kata) Filipovic, the founders of the I&D Group, a construction company established in 1994, specialising in concrete structures and highrise projects.
Based in Melbourne, they are prominent Croatian community philanthropists and long-term supporters of local football clubs.
Ivan, who arrived in Australia in 1986, is also chairman of Hrvatski Vjesnik (The Croatian Herald), the oldest and largest Australian-Croatian newspaper.
Nearby development activity along Swan Street has brought a wave of mid to high-density projects as Cremorne continues to transition into a mixed-use residential and employment precinct.
The includes plans filed in January for an office building that would turn food waste from neighbouring businesses into its power supply have gone on public exhibition.
Designed by Hassell Studio in collaboration with Finding Infinity, the project at 28-30 Stephenson Street is part of a “building-as-producer” pilot program, according to application documents.
The 13-storey tower—an upgrade from a previous 10-storey plan for the site—extended “well beyond benchmarked sustainability requirements” to become a net producer of energy and net importer of organic waste, it said.
Also in January, Ipoint Property Group submitted plans for an eight-storey commercial building at 101-103 Dover Street, while in February, Franze Developments revealed plans for 79-83 Balmain and 116-122 Chestnut streets for an 87-room hotel and eight serviced apartments
