Inside the $250m construction boom on Melbourne’s most prestigious street
Dawn is breaking on Toorak’s leafy St Georges Road and a small, fluorescent army is buzzing with activity.
Every workday morning, in the wintry darkness, they engage in a high-visibility scramble to find a car park for their cars and trucks, then unload the tools and head to their numerous, multimillion-dollar jobsite, a hive of activity on one of Melbourne’s most prestigious boulevards.
There doesn’t seem to be a cost-of-living crisis or concern about rising housing construction costs here. Delivery of imported equipment and special equipment is the norm, and behind the huge fences already fully grown landscaped gardens are established.
Online gambling and crypto billionaire Ed Craven is leading the charge with an almost $150 million development of a so-called “ghost house” that the 31-year-old purchased in 2022 for more than $80 million.
Craven, one of the founders of the Stake and Kick gambling sites and whose fortune is estimated at $5.2 billion, is building a luxury estate that will expand above and below ground on the avenue lined with plane trees. The development will make it an embarrassment for property developer Harry Stamoulis to demolish and rebuild for nearly $70 million.
An evaluation of planning records reveals that the construction would take the total value of the development north of the street to $250 million.
At least another three million dollars’ worth of new construction has recently been completed on the strip, and now Victorian Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny is discussing an application to build a $35 million apartment complex further around the bend. The original plans were rejected by local authorities.
Property developer Toni Brandi, whose husband David Brandi is an accountant and businessman and who was banned from being a company director for five years by the corporate regulator in 2021, wants to spend the money building 18 homes on land jutting out towards the Yarra River.
Toni Brandi’s plans, submitted through broker Blood Diamond Group, were canceled by Stonnington Council last year. The 49-page report on the proposal was scathing, describing it as “excessive height and bulk as viewed from the Yarra” and “overdevelopment of the site”.
The council said the building would “dominate the St Georges Road streetscape” and “exceed the permitted height of 10 metres” and that the site was “not optimally located for a higher density development given the lack of public transport and nearby amenities”.
“The overall design details and presentation of the development to the street are not considered to respond to the character or scale of the streetscape,” the report said. “Council’s urban design advisor does not support development.”
Kilkenny will now make its decision under the state government’s Development Facilitation Scheme, a fast-track route to approvals to reward well-designed housing.
He said of the Kilkenny approval scheme: “Suburbs should not be locked away for the lucky few; they should be areas where young families and workers have the chance to find a home in places they love.”
To qualify for the Development Facilitation Program, projects must provide at least 10 per cent of affordable housing, a financial contribution to the Social Housing Growth Fund of at least 3 per cent of the estimated development cost, or an alternative contribution to the provision of affordable housing in Victoria. Under the programme, it can take up to four months for the St Georges Road proposal to be assessed.
A government spokesman said: “Any proposals will be considered on their merits. As this is currently under consideration it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
The community can apply to the Ministry of Transport and Planning until a decision is made. It is believed that no other housing projects are being offered through the Development Facilitation Program in Toorak.
Toni Brandi was contacted for comment but did not respond.
On a smaller scale, though still multimillion-dollar, Melbourne neurosurgeon Richard Bittar and his wife Renee are awaiting planning approval from the council for a $7.5 million rework of their heritage-listed mansion Karum, which they bought for $40 million in 2024.
The house has a pool and tennis court. Now the couple want to add a new basement that can accommodate 10 cars, as well as a two-storey extension to the rear, a spare pool, pool house and a gym.
Elsewhere, and among many other ongoing projects, the $4.4 million renovation of the heritage-listed Edzell house is underway. The mansion is owned by Victorian Liberal Party millionaire influencer and Humm Group founder Andrew Abercrombie.
Beyond this, the $17 million renovation of Blair House, purchased by billionaire Message Media founder Grant Rule for $74.5 million, is also ongoing. The rule of thumb is to include an underground garage for each bedroom in a 10-bedroom house, perhaps for 10 cars.
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