PDG Moves Ahead with $450m Skyscraper at Southbank
Melbourne’s PDG is making headway with it plans to bring a 71-storey addition to the Southbank skyline.
The developer acquired 1-29 Queens Bridge Street in the CBD-adjacent hotspot in 2024 for $85 million from Blackstone, which had bought the site in an $8.9-billion assets deal from Crown Casino in 2022.
PDG’s plans for the prime site are an upscaling of the original proposal for 483 apartments announced last year.
The family-run developer founded by Vince Giuliano now wants 637 apartments on the site, which is directly connected to the CBD grid via Queens and Sandridge bridges.
According to planning reports now on notice with the Department of Transport and Planning, the project will also include office and retail components.
As well as a 181-key hotel, the building dubbed One Queens Bridge would offer 2762sq m of office and 1741sq m of retail.
The residential mix—192 one, 302 two, 124 three and 14 four-bedroom units—includes five penthouses.
A 10-storey podium would include parking for 518 cars as well as a retail component.
A key feature of the proposal is a laneway from Queens Bridge Street to Freshwater Place of 527sq m of groundfloor area with access to food and beverage premises as well as the commercial and residential lobbies.
Residential amenities of 2251 sq m are included and comprise lounges, coworking spaces, a library, indoor lap pool, gym and spa.
Redeveloping the 5059sq m site would “reinvigorate several underutilised sites in a strategically significant location at a key CBD gateway” the report said.
It is home to four vacant commercial buildings of up to two storeys.
These include the Queensbridge Hotel at 1-7 Queens Bridge Street, which will be partially demolished, however, the hotel facade will be retained and restored under the proposal.
The PDG site is surrounded by a cluster of Southbank skyscrapers, including the 63-storey Freshwater Place residential and commercial towers, and the 72-storey Prima Pearl apartment tower.
It is also close to the Eureka tower and Australia 108, at the eastern end of the Crown Melbourne resort precinct.
Cox Architects have designed the project in collaboration with PDG for the scheme, which has a development cost of $450 million.
The plans are on notification until March 22.
Power to the Port: Momentum Grows for Northern Adelaide’s Riverside Revival
Borger Warns Sydney’s Olympic Park Risks Missing Housing Moment
‘Maybe in a Decade’: Metricon Chief Executive’s Big Bet
Beyond the Building: Guest Experience Firms as Hotel Gamechanger
