MULTIPLEX has completed construction of Schiavello Group’s $1 billion mixed-use M-City development on the former Monash Homemaker Centre site in Melbourne’s south east, delivering 18 hectares of built area in one of the largest single stage, master-planned community projects undertaken in Victoria to date.
Four residential buildings ranging from three to 12 levels now rise from the 30,000 sqm Clayton site at 2109-2125 Dandenong Rd on the corner of Princess Hwy and Blackburn Rd, comprising a total of 665 apartments in a range of configurations.
M-City also features a bronze façade 4.5-star, 10 level hotel with 250 rooms to be operated by Park Royal, and an eight level commercial tower with some 14,000 sqm of A grade commercial space above a two-level retail podium.
The 30,450 sqm retail centre comprises 78 stores including Woolworths, Kmart, a six screen Village cinema complex, a medical centre and a childcare centre with a two-level carpark providing 2,000 spaces.
The result is the product of master planning and designs by The Buchan Group and a 24 month construction effort with 1,100 workers on site during peak periods.
According to Multiplex, an industry first was also achieved during the construction of M- City with the utilisation of hollow-core and pre-cast structure to an extent that cannot be compared with any building project of the same scale in Australia.
The site was acquired in 1992 by Nick Saraceno of The Saraceno Group, which partnered with Schiavello early in 2017 to develop the precinct. The Monash Homemaker Centre was left abandoned for a number of years, and plans for M-City had been initially rejected by Monash Council before then State Planning Minister Justin Madden granted approval 10 years ago.
Just over 80 apartments remain for sale.
