Gday guys, anyone have any idea how tall 501 swanston will be?

i know that the proposed building is 45 stories

how high is it in metres? any ideas?

cheers

lozza :banana:

:rock:

Verve 501 Swanston Street: 153.7m to roof, 190m to spire
Verve 501 Franklin Street: 122.7m to roof
Former Ansett HQ additions: 126m

Pictures please. Anyone.

http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/0111/1570111ml1040269837.jpg

silvermb's got the plans for it somewhere

tays

i have a fear its going to look 'central equity-ish'

but dont quote me, it might turn out well, its a nice height

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<tr><td align=left valign=top>i have a fear its going to look 'central equity-ish'
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I hope that won't be the case! Central Equity is to Melb what Harry is to Sydney! hehehe

WOW !!:rock:

taller than i expected ! :banana:

What are the chances of it not going ahead? :rant:

cheers :dj: :fiddle:

lozza

The important point (in the current environment) is who the selling campaign is pitched at - investors or owner-occupiers. The lower end of the market (overseas full-fee paying students) is still bubbling, - when combined with location this one might have a shorter lead time...hopefully. It's quite handsome, crystalline..almost a bit blocky. For some reason it reminds me of a recent Sydney proposal i saw..can't remember which one.

Blue

Pretty big development - melbourne keeps on getting them:D

I assume that it will be staged - are they marketing the taller tower first or are they marketing the whole thing at once??

35 (or was it 36 Dean?) of 300 apartments already sold.

Penthouses sold

10% gone on first day - not bad! :D

BTW the model r0x0rz x 10 :D

tays

This is the report from todays AGE


Builder doubles impact
February 7 2003
By Royce Millar, Farrah Tomazin





A 46-storey tower - almost double the size initially supported by government planning officials - will be built on the site of the old Ansett complex in the city.

Planning Minister Mary Delahunty gave the go-ahead to the $220 million development at the northern end of Swanston Street in one of her final decisions before the state election was announced.

Full details were revealed yesterday by developer PDG Corporation. The project involves a 46-storey tower with 280 apartments, known as Verve 501.

PDG managing director Vince Giuliano said that in initial discussions early last year, Department of Infrastructure officers said they preferred a new tower of 22 to 25 levels.

However, through negotiations, the department accepted a 46-level tower and an eight-level extension on the Ansett building, he said.



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Construction of the project is scheduled to begin later this year. A six-level podium with shops and cafes, a tennis court, indoor pool and gymnasium will also be built.

Good luck to them. Lets hope they keep selling them. The sooner this one gets up, the closer we get to filling "the gap", and because of the elevated site, from St Kilda Rd/St Kilda Junction, it will almost look as high as 120/101 Collins St!

re: Podium:

the model showed a 6 level high indoor rock climbing wall - they even had an example of what it'll be like in the display suite.

Fountainhead: yeah definitely a stage development, the model at the display suite was just like Freshwater Place's model - showing one "wholesome" (details and colour etc) tower and two transperant towers etc....

I'd love to see the gun-barrel view down Swanston Street from the Penthouse when it's built - you'll be so freaking high above anything else!

tays

Gap Fillers.

Verve 501. BHP Billiton. Uh, EUREKA! There won't be much of a gap left. :baaa:

Blue

Is it actually official that they are going to extend the current ansett building by 8 stories, or is this a maybe? :rant:

cheers

lozza

Lozza,

It is very much official :D

This is a scan from the rendering in todays Age 7/2/03

http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/lukekasper/verve%20501.JPG

www.theage.com.au

http://www.urbandesign.com.au/images/clients/ansett/1_lg2.jpg

http://www.urbandesign.com.au/images/clients/ansett/4_lg.jpg

http://www.urbandesign.com.au/images/clients/ansett/3_lg.jpg

http://www.urbandesign.com.au/images/clients/ansett/5_lg.jpg

the verve 501 website has been updated...

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/verve_501.html

Well big ads in the papers today.. and prices start from $270,000 which is quite good.. they might just do ok..

I really bloody hope so!! Catching tram into town past Vic market the project will look *fantastic* and a great beefer for that end of town..

Definetely...also, it's good that they're adding quite a few levels to the old Ansett building!!!

Thanx guys,
Matt:)

Has anyone else ever heard another property developer go out and use FM Radio for advertising ? PDG & their Verve ads are the first I've ever heard em (heard em on the FOX)

I really do wish em good luck, they seemed like a nice bunch when myself and Silvermb were at their offices 3 - 4 months ago.

tays

It seems that the Ansett House redevelopment has started. Builder L.U Simon has the job so the transformation into 501 Swanston has commenced. My bet is it wont be long before an L.U Simon crane from one of CE's completed Southbank projects makes its way onto this site.

The redeveloped tower, at 125m
http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/ansett_1.JPG

http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/ansett_2.JPG

images from Friday
http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/501swanston_2003_02_28.JPG

http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/501swanston_2003_02_28=1.JPG

thanks for that slivermb. This certainly is an exiting progress...not that big, but will fit in nicely at that end of the CBD. A little more bulk and height is always welcomed!!! Nice designe too. Arn';t they adding 8 stories to the Ansett building???

Thanx guys,
Matt:)

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<tr><td align=left valign=top> Arn';t they adding 8 stories to the Ansett building???

Thanx guys,
Matt:)</td></tr>
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yeah, you can see the extra ones on the rendering, and where the 'join' is.

i hope that plant thing on the top doesnt look too bad, and i hope they change a few colours of the building!

ive always sortof liked the octangonal shape of it though

I just went to have a look at this site and the display suit this afternoon and its a huge development.

The towers are going to appear very hight because that end of Swanston Street is a hell of a lot higher then the intersection with Flinders Street. Although the tallest tower (now on sale) will be 45 stories, it will look more like 55!

Oh, and by the way, sales are going very well, with well over 1/3 already sold and heaps of people in today looking at purchasing more apartments.

sweet @ 1/3, hopefully they're adds on the Radio are successful so they can STOP PLAYING THEM - they're getting annoying now ;)

"Verve Five Oh One - Swanst'n Str't"

:puke:

tays

Wow cool!!! Just as 390 LaTrobe St nears compeltion.. I get this handy little project to watch going up from my balcony :D :D

If both the Ansett Tower and the main apt tower, as well as RDT are all absolutely fair dinkum core rising under construction by middle of this year.. I will be one very happy chappy indeed .. 3 solid 125-150m towers at the extreme ends of the city are great beef suppliers!

Here is a rendering that was in the age a few weeks ago!

http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/lukekasper/verve%20501.JPG

Stweuf, that rendering makes it look like some sort of messianic monument. Is PDG corporation trying to extend the northern CBD by stealth? Look out, all you Save Our Suburbs clowns... :D

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<tr><td align=left valign=top>Stweuf, that rendering makes it look like some sort of messianic monument. Is PDG corporation trying to extend the northern CBD by stealth? Look out, all you Save Our Suburbs clowns... :D</td></tr>
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...let's hope they do!

I mean look at the Cheese-grater "cock up" by the locals.....

but still PDG are still building in "CBD" so... *shrug*

tays

125 out of 280(45%) units sold in stage one (the taller tower). Work will begin june/july. I have been told that the Ansett building will be fully refurbushed inside and out but NO extra floors will be added. Not sure how accurate this is.

Also Swanston St will be re-alligned during stage one with a piazza and cafes built where swantson runs now.( ie instead of continuing staright through to Victoria St it will turn right about 45 degress and meet it at right angles)

I have also been told that most or all of the retail space has been let. A massive Audi car dealer will occupy the space between tower one and the ansett building. Also quite some of space has been let in the ansett building. (again not sure of the accuracy of this info)

Just goes to show that if u have a development thats fairly priced and its got a bit of class you can make a fortune as most units are piced at $300-550k (with views) which is a good deal for new CBD appts.

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

Good news, it seems like the rather cheesy 501 Verve radio ads on 3AW are doing the job hehehe.

The PDG web site for the old Ansett tower which is advertising for tenants only shows the tower being refurbished, not extended.
I think at this stage that it will just be refurbished and they just got the approval for extension for use in the future, or if they 100% lease the refurbished space.

Another 150m+ U/C in Melbourne by July, that will mean 8 U/C at the same time, the same number as in 1991!!!!!! Could be 9 or 10 by the end of the year if Prima or FWP 2 get the go ahead :-)

This building will have a huge impact on that end of town, being right in the middle of the dreaded 'gap'.

Bad news about the Ansett Tower .. I was really looking forward to it going higher ..

But YAY news about the Residential !!! Absolutely fantastic having a 190m structure up that end of town !!!

As I think I've said already.. if both this and RDT are well and truly no ifs or buts U/C by mid year that will more than make up for Imperium and be two very important 500ft additions for the extreme North-South ends of the skyline!

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<tr><td align=left valign=top>Bad news about the Ansett Tower .. I was really looking forward to it going higher ..

But YAY news about the Residential !!! Absolutely fantastic having a 190m structure up that end of town !!!

As I think I've said already.. if both this and RDT are well and truly no ifs or buts U/C by mid year that will more than make up for Imperium and be two very important 500ft additions for the extreme North-South ends of the skyline!</td></tr>
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Agree, it's all good. But somehow this isn't quite the same as Imperium bulking up Southbank with that cluster of talls...filling the gap is nowhere near as exciting as having a CLUSTER of 500 footers! And I still feel that more can be done at the northern end of the CBD...so much potential!

Franklin St seems to be very much PDG's "Domain" - I wonder how many more sites they own / looking to buy!

You're almost guaranteed the 501 tower will be heavily laden with students - across the street from RMIT LaT. campus and 2 second tram ride from Uni-Melb etc.

Are both towers going to have the same "configuration" i.e both middle range, or a mix of upper / lower and middle range prices / apartments ?

tays

The display is very cool, the wall at the rear has every apartment set out with a mark over those sold. The first five levels are fully sold as are the penthouses. If you haven't been in, check it out, the tower looks much better in the model. The exposed side of the core will be finished in royal blue and the floor-ceiling glass will create walls of glass all the way up the tower. Most impressive are the two grey strips up the front of the tower which will be clad in a cut marble finish, as is the rest of the tower that is not glass. It really will be an imposing tower and the second tower will commence marketing in 8 months.

I think the second tower might kick off earlier though. The break down would show that a huge majority of apartments have been sold to asian clients, and a hell of a lot of those are international students with far too much money.

Blabbyboy that end of town is my pick as the next Spencer St. C-bus owns the old Cub Lab building (second pic, small grey building) and already have approval for an office building of about 20,000 sq m. But the sales rep at Verve says they are planning a new 20-level tower for the site. RMIT are looking at $31 million for the vacant CUB site, hopefully the sell it off sooner than later. There are heaps of vacant blocks around Franklin Lofts that are prime for developement, considering Melb Central and QV are about a minute away, as are the uni's. Central Equity are looking to get in there somewhere, they were outbid by PDG for the Ansett site who were absolutely desperate to get it. Tays they don't own any other sites, they buy and build straight away.

Hey those ads on 3AW are O.K. Who doesn't want to listen to a woman speaking to herself followed by that bloody jingle.:ohno:

500 ft +Towers UC by the middle of this year in Melbourne.

Eureka Tower - 297m
FWP Tower 1 - 203m
Ernst & Young Plaza (HWT) - 165m
Southern X (Eastern Tower) - 163m
1 Southbank Boulevarde (PWC) - 160m
Verve 501 (Tower 1) - 155m (190m to tip)
Royal Domain Towers - 152m (162m to tip)
Urban Workshop - 150m (494 ft - close but no cigar)

and those which could be on the way by the end of the year.

Prima Tower - 218m

Thats quite an impressive list with a number of towers in the 125-145m mark also UC around town.

Victoria Point - 142m - will begin construction in May
Melbourne Tower - 127m? UC
City Tower - 127m? UC
BHP WHQ - 127m UC
QV - 132m UC
Yarra's Edge - Tower V - 134m UC
357 Collins St (Former ASX) - 133m UC

Have i forgotten any in these lists...

Melbourne Rocks

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

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<tr><td align=left valign=top>RMIT are looking at $31 million for the vacant CUB site, hopefully they sell it off sooner than later. </td></tr>
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3LO radio recently had a talk-back discussion of what should be built on the vacant RMIT/CUB site. Obviously no-one from this forum rang in as the majority of people wanted a PARK (of all things) on the site.

I reckon there should be something tall, chunky and iconic on it, something like an estranged partner for the shrine at the other end of that horizon.

Anyone have an estimate how long until construction will start (I know it's hard to guess based on how much has to be sold).

Once QV is completed (and it sure was quick!) it would be good to have something else to watch construction of from RMIT.

Anyone have any details on how they intend to go about extending the ex-Ansett building?

Verve 501 has sold 140 of the 280 apartments in the fist six weeks since it was released, so looking good.

Suncorp Metway has leased 5000 square metres (50%) in the former Ansett building. Europcar, Meinhardt engineering and PDG group itself are already commited to space meaning the tower is 71% leased and the renovations will be completed by July. Also, Audi is to lease an area in the retail section for a car showroom.

So the project is definately full steam ahead and with 71% of the existing commercial space leased already an extension to the old Ansett tower in the near future is looking more liekly.

New rendering:
http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/home3.gif

More info:

Melbourne property development company, PDG Corporation, today released details of its $220 million plan to transform the former Ansett head office site, located on the corner of Swanston and Franklin Streets Melbourne, into a magnificent landmark multi purpose complex.

The main feature of the development will be the construction of a 46 level tower that will house 280 new contemporary residential apartments, to be known as "Verve 501 Apartments". An existing 20 level commercial building on the site will be totally refurbished, and an extensive retail shopping complex will also be incorporated with a 700 space carpark. The carpark area will feature an indoor rock climbing wall - Australia's tallest - which can be viewed from the plaza and cafes via a stunning glass wall.

PDG company Managing Director Mr. Vince Giuliano, said the prime city fringe location of the development, the quality of the facilities, and the keenly structured apartment prices, would ensure the success of the project.

Announcing plans for the Verve 501 residential and retail components of the development earlier today, Mr. Giuliano was critical of recent negative reports regarding the future of inner city residential property, saying that market demand for quality well-located apartments was still strong.

Mr. Giuliano said that comments made prior to Christmas by the head of the Reserve Bank about the oversupply of inner-city apartments, and therefore the negative future of the market, should have been more specifically directed to badly designed and poorly located apartments.

"My company thoroughly researched Melbourne's apartment buyer market prior to making the substantial investment in the old Ansett site, and we are confident that its prime location at the gateway to the CBD, nestled between Carlton and the city, and so close to Melbourne University, the Victoria Market, transport and parklands, will guarantee a positive outcome for all participants", said Mr. Giuliano.

Further, Mr. Giuliano said the retail and commercial complex facilities that will service residential occupants, would add considerable $value for Verve 501 investors.

"Verve 501 Apartments will be located within what we describe as an exciting urban village with a vast range of facilities right on the doorstep", Mr. Giuliano stated.

On offer at "Verve 501 Apartments" will be 280 one, two and three bedroom apartments, ranging in size from 52 to 120 square metres in size. Each apartment will feature vast floor to ceiling windows that will capture magnificent views across the city, top quality finishes including marble, stone, European appliances, plush pile carpets, and the latest in high tech security systems, as well as wiring for broad band and digital TV reception.

Occupants will not only take advantage of the generous on site parking facilities, they will also have exclusive access to an indoor pool, a fully equipped gymnasium, a full-size outdoor tennis court and landscaped gardens with barbeque facilities.

Apartment prices will range from $270,000, with the majority of apartment prices under $550,000.

excellent news!

Melbourne - soon to have 24 500 footers U/C and built - watch out Houston! :D

tays

thanks for the info Grollo, does anyone know where Suncorp are currently located?

I believe Suncorp are currently in 120 Collins.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,6192226%255E2862,00.html

Melbourne's fountain plan
By KATE JONES
27mar03

A FOUNTAIN will be the centrepiece of a new gateway development planed for the top end of Swanston St.

A piazza will be built at the intersection between the City Baths and the former Ansett tower on the corner of Victoria St, under a Melbourne City Council proposal.
The piazza fountain is one of four planned for city landmarks, including the Birrarung Marr park, Freshwater Place plaza at Southbank and the Haymarket roundabout at the Elizabeth St and Flemington Rd junction.

The new fountains are part of a $10 million city facelift by Fountains Victoria.

The trust group aims to raise the money from private sponsorship to build 25 fountains across Melbourne, including the four in the city.

Spokeswoman Jennifer Squires said the fountains would be drought-friendly and use recycled water.

Melbourne Lord Mayor John So said the piazza and Federation Square would book-end Swanston St and welcome city visitors.

"I think there's huge potential to create something unique as a gateway to the city centre," Cr So said.

"Federation Square is the southern gateway and now we're looking at the northern side."

Tramlines on Swanston St will not be altered for the piazza.

The development was first discussed more than two years ago by the Peter Costigan-led council.

Cr So said this council was still in discussions with private stakeholders such as developers PDT who have bought the former Ansett head office.

If approved, construction of the piazza would not be funded until at least 2006

_________________

Good old fashioned HERALD SUN journalism in the 2nd last line there ;) Dumbarses! it's PDG, not PDT!

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Melbourne's fountain plan
By KATE JONES
27mar03

A FOUNTAIN will be the centrepiece of a new gateway development planed for the top end of Swanston St.

A piazza will be built at the intersection between the City Baths and the former Ansett tower on the corner of Victoria St, under a Melbourne City Council proposal.
The piazza fountain is one of four planned for city landmarks, including the Birrarung Marr park, Freshwater Place plaza at Southbank and the Haymarket roundabout at the Elizabeth St and Flemington Rd junction.

The new fountains are part of a $10 million city facelift by Fountains Victoria.

The trust group aims to raise the money from private sponsorship to build 25 fountains across Melbourne, including the four in the city.

Spokeswoman Jennifer Squires said the fountains would be drought-friendly and use recycled water.

Melbourne Lord Mayor John So said the piazza and Federation Square would book-end Swanston St and welcome city visitors.

"I think there's huge potential to create something unique as a gateway to the city centre," Cr So said.

"Federation Square is the southern gateway and now we're looking at the northern side."

Tramlines on Swanston St will not be altered for the piazza.

The development was first discussed more than two years ago by the Peter Costigan-led council.

Cr So said this council was still in discussions with private stakeholders such as developers PDT who have bought the former Ansett head office.

If approved, construction of the piazza would not be funded until at least 2006

_________________

Good old fashioned HERALD SUN journalism in the 2nd last line there ;) Dumbarses! it's PDG, not PDT!</td></tr>
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That's FANTASTIC NEWS!!! I love Melbourne fountains!!! Great stuff! I didn't know there was such a thing as "Fountains Victoria".

Btw, those Verve renders make it look...shite.

merged threads.

New update on sales at Verve 501... 170/280 apartments now sold.

Construction will start in July on tower 1(155m to roof, 190 to tip), however even though the old Ansett building is over 70% leased, NO floors will be added to it. Just a refurb inside and out.

The new piazza has been given approval by council and is now definatley happening with one section of Swanston St street taken over by it oposite the city baths.

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

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<tr><td align=left valign=top>New update on sales at Verve 501... 170/280 apartments now sold.

Construction will start in July on tower 1(155m to roof, 190 to tip), however even though the old Ansett building is over 70% leased, NO floors will be added to it. Just a refurb inside and out.

The new piazza has been given approval by council and is now definatley happening with one section of Swanston St street taken over by it oposite the city baths.

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne</td></tr>
</table>

Good news! So that's two more definants to add to the boom! Vic point and this! sweet.

You'd have to say that Guliano guy's optimism has been vindicated, the damn thing's selling like dope at a peace rally.

Blue

As I said in another thread - PDG has some classé advertising up on the building that is on the Prima site (see PRima thread ;))

go PDG you good thing :nocrook:

tays

I don't get how we can build more fountains when we have water restrictions at the moment. How does that work? They will build them, but they can't turn them on??

Tenders were out again in The Age today so still looking good..

My first post here...

Parents have bought a lot in the Verve 501, though they don't know I know about it. I do have some information regarding the apartment and area - we have the brochure and all that, but I still need some details to be filled in if you don't mind :D. When you say "the Ansett building will be refurbed inside out", does that mean the old Ansett tower WILL be transformed into the Verve 501??

I personally don't really know too much about Melbourne nor Australia ;) as I live in a tiny, oil-rich nation commonly referred to as Brunei.

We got a 2 bedroom apartment with the "Luxury Pack" whatever that is. Interior of the lot will be slightly altered according to my dad's specs. Will probably be our holiday home when PDG's project is completed, and hopefully my place to dwell in, 2 years from now when I hope to depart Brunei for Melbourne to continue my education.

the gold/blue building is the office tower that is being refurbished 'inside and out' and will remain as an office tower, but not as tall.

the blue/grey tallest tower is Verve 501 (where you will be living) that will commence construction later this year.

http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/ansett_1.JPG

thats one very nice holiday home.

grollo, any idea how high above sea level (RL) verve 501 swanston is? i was going to do a skyline drawing with it in and need acurate Rl's. I estimate 20m?
cheers

It's a shame they're not extended the crap Ansett office squat...um...tower.

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<tr><td align=left valign=top>grollo, any idea how high above sea level (RL) verve 501 swanston is? i was going to do a skyline drawing with it in and need acurate Rl's. I estimate 20m?
cheers</td></tr>
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well i contacted Urban Design who are architects for verve 501 and they gave e these heights-
ground RL-20m
height to roof-148m (RL168m)
height to LMR-155m (RL175m)
height to spire-170m (RL190m)

So the heights have slightly changed from original stats grollo posted. the spire height of 190m was the RL height. I thought the spire seemed very tall.
also height of bldg has come up from 153.4 to 155m.

cheers

The spire was going to be higher, just look at the renderings, there is no way the spire in the renderings is only 15m high! So they must have changed the design of the spire.

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<tr><td align=left valign=top>The spire was going to be higher, just look at the renderings, there is no way the spire in the renderings is only 15m high! So they must have changed the design of the spire.</td></tr>
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my thoughts exactly. so im ringing them back today to comfirm! i asked him twice about the spire! to make sure
wish me luck!
cheers

well rang back to recomfirm heights and the spire will only rise 15m above LMR, so 170m above ground. or 190mRL. i also asked what the spires use will be, and he said mainly lightning conductor!
cheers

They probably make the spire taller in the renderings to make it look better for the marketing pics:|

Well the roof is the only thing that counts.. though it would have been 'nice' to add a 190m tower to the 'official' list .. but then thats bullshit all along as I've been saying..

150m is still decent for that end of town :D

L.U. SIMON SIGN ON FOR VERVE!

Sat Age, Business & Money, last page.

Verve 501 Swanston = 80% presales (!!!)

Old Ansett HQ = 80% pre-leased (!!!)

Tenants:

Health Services Australia (moving from Casselden - 3000 sqm) - just signed on recently
Suncorp Metway (QLD Bank - 5000 sqm)
Audi (moving from share accom with Porsche - 3000 sqm)

the final remark says it all:

"The commercial leasing and apartment sales success prompts a final question: is the CBD apartment and office leasing markets as bad as analysts suggest ?"

:guns1:

Here comes our 7th 500+ footer to go U/C! :D :D :D

...and also it'll become the tallest residential within the "official" CBD boundary!

That's good news. 80% sold, that's excellent. They should release the next tower soon which is about 130-35m .. I think that may be a mix of regular apartments as well as serviced apartments.

Is there any word on a start date???

So it looks like this:

Big E UC 297m
1FWP UC 203m
E&Y Plaza UC 165m
SX Eastern UC 163m
PWC UC 160m
Verve 501 UC soon 155m(170m to spire)
Royal Domain Tower UC 152m(162m to spire)
Urban Workshop UC 150m (494ft)

Are there any more at or near the 500ft mark apart from Victoria Point (142m) to go UC anytime soon???

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

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<td align=left valign=center> <smallfont> <b>Quote</B> <I>originally posted by tayser </i></b> </smallfont> </td>
<tr><td align=left valign=top>L.U. SIMON SIGN ON FOR VERVE!

Sat Age, Business & Money, last page.

Verve 501 Swanston = 80% presales (!!!)

Old Ansett HQ = 80% pre-leased (!!!)

Tenants:

Health Services Australia (moving from Casselden - 3000 sqm) - just signed on recently
Suncorp Metway (QLD Bank - 5000 sqm)
Audi (moving from share accom with Porsche - 3000 sqm)

the final remark says it all:

"The commercial leasing and apartment sales success prompts a final question: is the CBD apartment and office leasing markets as bad as analysts suggest ?"

:guns1:

Here comes our 7th 500+ footer to go U/C! :D :D :D</td></tr>
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Excellent news.

Don't tell the market analysys are actually wrong. ;)

Bring on those 500 footers baby! :D

Dean: surprisingly (?) no, there was no mention of starting date :dunno: :(

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<td align=left valign=center> <smallfont> <b>Quote</B> <I>originally posted by tayser </i></b> </smallfont> </td>
<tr><td align=left valign=top>Dean: surprisingly (?) no, there was no mention of starting date :dunno: :(</td></tr>
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The urban Design team told me a few months back that verve will start at end of year or early 2004.
good stuff!

Maybe they will extend the former Ansett Tower now that it is 80% pre-leased.

According to the article in the age yesterday, it notes that the redevelopment of the office tower is almost complete, and that all that will be happening now is that the terrazzo exterior will be given a polish to remove the weathered look that it currently has on the exterior.

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<td align=left valign=center> <smallfont> <b>Quote</B> <I>originally posted by tayser </i></b> </smallfont> </td>
<tr><td align=left valign=top>Dean: surprisingly (?) no, there was no mention of starting date :dunno: :(</td></tr>
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The urban Design team told me a few months back that verve will start at end of year or early 2004.
good stuff!</td></tr>
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Hmm.. perhaps they we're being conservative ?? With a builder appointed now I don't see why they couldn't start very soon..

Unless either that's simply the time it will take to demolish the existing low-rise white Ansett sales building..

Or maybe that was part of the agreement that LU Simon start later in the year when resources become available (but then they weren't appointed 2 months ago when you got your info cul!)

Either way hope we see some action soon..

Great news!

still no "we're starting soon" or something similar on the Verve website, will keep a watch though!

Hopefully PDG might just spalsh out on a webcam interface for their site - still havent seen -any- redevelopment's own webcams :(

well, it obviously didnt take long for L.U. Simon to put their banners et al up around the site, did a quick walk around there was a bob-cat digging something up from against the old crap-heap on the site.

That's another bonus of this project, a "yech" building is going - now only if they could do something with RMIT Build. 13 and 14!

Couldn't agree more; Melbourne's main ceremonial approach from the north has been blighted for years, with the CUB bombsite (I was so excited with the original Pacific Central proposal), the boring clutch of Ansett buildings, and then those hideous RMIT 13 + 14 grey lumps; inspired by the best in 50's Soviet architecture? The problem is the F-up over the RMIT computer deal seems likely to limit their options in doing anything cosmetic ( a facade strip? a tactical nuclear weapon? ),and I guess we'll never see their wonderful Worm sports complex go up on the west side of Swanston. Aah patience.....At least we've got Verve to give things a big lift.

Originally posted by redden

Couldn't agree more; Melbourne's main ceremonial approach from the north has been blighted for years, with the CUB bombsite (I was so excited with the original Pacific Central proposal), the boring clutch of Ansett buildings, and then those hideous RMIT 13 + 14 grey lumps; inspired by the best in 50's Soviet architecture? The problem is the F-up over the RMIT computer deal seems likely to limit their options in doing anything cosmetic ( a facade strip? a tactical nuclear weapon? ),and I guess we'll never see their wonderful Worm sports complex go up on the west side of Swanston. Aah patience.....At least we've got Verve to give things a big lift.
Well said, but Vervey is not enough IMHO.

Article froma few weeks back:

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/verve501.jpg

New renders of the podium:
http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/audi.gif

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/commercial_pic.jpg

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/retail.jpg

I think the old Ansett tower is almost completely refubished. They were working on the foyer and entrance last week.

I don't know if the Verve 501 plans are supposed to be confidential and only disclosed to prospective buyers, but as my parents are one of them, we have those plans of one of the 2-bedroom units, stock and our personalized variant. I'm still evaluating the pros and cons of posting them plans.

There might be some problem with posting the floorplans, but eh, it's up to you!

silvermb, I could not resist posting this when I was browsing through the images you've accumulated :D

http://members.iinet.net.au/~tayser/verve501.jpg

If it's going to be those colours, then I'm sold (I just hope in reality, the dark side walls are not done on the cheap like Southpoint's though :( ), white would have just made it a literal white elephant right nextdoor to all that RMIT Brutalism,

http://members.iinet.net.au/~tayser/verve501_aerial.jpg

the display model has a royal blue core rising up the rear of the tower and the two strips up the front are a polished granite finish. the rest is basically the same.

anyway construction of the Audi showroom has commenced. alot of precast goingup

I think this a great loking development.. i think itll be a bit of a quiet achiever since its in the rather quieter part of town in terms of construction

A good northern gateway. just hope something happens with the CUB site across the street sometime this century

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

The spire in that big rendering is way more than 15 metres, at least 30 metres. Maybe they just make it bigger in the renderings to make it look better?

Originally posted by Dean
............just hope something happens with the CUB site across the street sometime this century

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne
Funny you should mention the CUB site, because workmen were undertaking some landscape work on the site last week!!!!

How many damn renders of Verve are there????

If you go back over the last 5 pages and check 'em out, take yer pick - even though they keep the integral shape.

I'm looking forward to this one. It will add a bit of beef to that end of town. I wish that it was just a bit higher though.

Something like 190m - 200m with a bigger spire. Now that would have really stood out.

What's it's height again - 155 to roof, plus a 15m spire = 170m?

Originally posted by museumb
How many damn renders of Verve are there????

If you go back over the last 5 pages and check 'em out, take yer pick - even though they keep the integral shape.

yeah, too many! Although it won't be a QV development, we know what the tower's shape will be like, just not the colours / facades as each week there's a diff one ;)

OK, lets say you were purchasing a Verve 501 apartment... would you post the floorplans?? But I must say, the Verve units aren't awfully big... well, when compared to houses anyway.

Whoa dudes...check out the construction on the Vervey site...they've already erected the steel frame for an airport-style CANOPY across the Ansett forecourt...it's all happening!!! Does this put the site U/C???!!!

No, as far as I am concerned, its not under construction until the old buildings on the corner are demolished and there is a lift core being built.

It's just the Audi showroom U/C

Originally posted by Richo
I'm looking forward to this one. It will add a bit of beef to that end of town. I wish that it was just a bit higher though.

Something like 190m - 200m with a bigger spire. Now that would have really stood out.

What's it's height again - 155 to roof, plus a 15m spire = 170m?
correct, but its Rl is 20m so its spire reaches Rl190m above the yarra! so it should stand out like dogs.......!

According to the web site demolition on site has commenced. Check out this way cool construction update site for Verve 501: http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/verve_construction/construction_01.html

If only every tower had a nice little mini site like this while it was U/
C :-)

Some cool model pics I found:

http://www.primeinvestment.com.au/All_property_listings/Residential/VIC/Verve/Photos/verve_model1b-med.gif

http://www.primeinvestment.com.au/All_property_listings/Residential/VIC/Verve/Photos/verve_model4b-med.gif

http://www.primeinvestment.com.au/All_property_listings/Residential/VIC/Verve/Photos/verve_model3b-med.gif

I was standing on the Shrine balcony today and thinking of this tower!

(lol)

a nice friend for MC, and a nice tower for when you look directly "up" swanston street

Check out how much the Ansett tower is dwarfed by 501 !!!

Bring it on.. wanna see some digging and piling..

*Great* beef up for the top end - as is RDT for the way-south and Vic Point the far west..

never really thought about that A-Brain, real "benchmark" towers, (RDT & VERVE) 2 x [just] 500+ footers 1k apart on the same street! :guns1:

I love this tower too. Excellent sleek design, and excellent use of pointless spire! Great position too. The whole idea of the bowl effect of melbournes skyline is really starting to grow on me!

wow! the spire has shrunk! (as i posted a while back from 35m to 15m.
oh well still a nice tower/

http://www.primeinvestment.com.au/All_property_listings/Residential/VIC/Verve/Photos/verve_model4b-med.gif

No sign of any demolition work today.

The "Audi of Melbourne" part of the project:

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/commercial_pic.jpg

not a bad view from the Office tower:

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/view.gif

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/sitemap.gif

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/lay1.gif

whats happened to the podium? that model looks piss-poor pathetic compared to the original with the curved shards and metallic wave-wall.

anyway
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/510/483verve_20031004_1.jpg

Has anyone been to see this site lately?? any word on the big towers construction status??

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

Deano,

Drove past the site yesterday and didn't see much happening. Didn't stop though to have a real close look.

Silvermb or A-brain may know more?

Nope still no start to construction ..

The fact they are advertising 'Pay in 2006' makes me think they'll make a start in the new year ..

Still should be a definite goer! But the champa's I was offering if the Big 3 ~500ft'ers ringing the city all had a core (RDT, VP & Verve) - still 2 outta 3 aint bad!

Originally posted by A-brain
Nope still no start to construction ..

The fact they are advertising 'Pay in 2006' makes me think they'll make a start in the new year ..

Still should be a definite goer! But the champa's I was offering if the Big 3 ~500ft'ers ringing the city all had a core (RDT, VP & Verve) - still 2 outta 3 aint bad!
when i contacted verve architects 6 months ago for height details, they told me it would start late in year OR early 2004. maybe its looking like 2004. looking forward for this beauty!

My friend's father, a purchase an 3 bedroom apartment on 40th storey. His apartment is on ths south side, thus having views of CBD look towards QV, Melbourne Central and the Shrine. Imagine the view.

In Singapore, this development is selling quite well

Its selling fantastically well....

My pa's friend, who introduced the idea of purchasing this apartment took a trip to East Malaysia with the intention of selling even more units of the Verve 501. With the not-so-strong Malaysian dollar and the Herculean Aussie $$$, a single bedroom Verve 501 apartment would push about 700,000 Malaysian Ringgit... easily. Consider the fact that the average 3-bedroom terrace house in East Malaysia, from what I've gathered, runs for approximately 400,000 Malaysian Ringgit and the Verve 501 starts to sound like a ripoff.

And we haven't even talked about those 2 & 3-bedroom apartments with the "Luxury Pack", whatever that is. We got a 2-bedroom apartment with the "Luxury Pack" option, with simplistic design deviating from the standard template.

:guns1: Wow, how cool - an Audi dealership right beside the Verve. Hope they get the Audi Pikes Peakes (A7) when I move in.

Pics from the site (Showroom)

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/verve_construction/images/demolition03.JPG

BIGGEST NEWS:

(from the site)


http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/verve_construction/images/demolition02.JPG

ABOVE: 26-11-2003 - Photograph showing internal demolition of 489 Swanston Street building that will be fully demolished to make way for the new Verve501 Apartments Complex.


:banana2:

Just drove past Verve 501 Swanston St, and there is a crane on site and plenty of demolition work underway. The office tower is also occupied!

Anyone been past lately...???
is there a tower crane onsite???

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

and here we go!

:guns1: :banana: :banana2: :banana: :guns1:

http://metropolis.tayser.net/projects/cbd/verve2201041.jpg

http://metropolis.tayser.net/projects/cbd/verve2201042.jpg

Yeah booyeeeee..

Since the display suite has to come down lets hope they shut up shop soon as well.. though obviously a bit of time before the bigger bastard is gone..

Time for the champers as promised early last year - the Bermuda Triangle (V501, VP & RDT) is underway!

semi-useless thought for the day:

this will probably the be the only tower (from upper levels) where you'll be able to see right through the CBD and straight down the gauntlet of St. Kilda road (upper levels due to Shrine being elevated) - mmm, might be worth sneaking up there just after completion armed to the teeth with big-arse zoom cameras.

:guns1:

I have purcahsed one of the penthouse apartments on the 44th floor in the Verve building. I referred a lot to these postings when I made my purchase back in November. The floorplans arent huge but the construction standards seem excellent. Also the external walls in our and other higher level apartments are almost exclusively made from glass so you literally look out over the CBD and then around the corner of the apartment all the way around almost to the river. The other big bonus of the floorplan for us was that we also get a huge balcony that has a bigger floorplan than the apartment itself which looks out over the CBD. Its about the size of a tennis court.

We are moving back to Melbourne from London and the general level of service and quality of the staff and planning at Verve was extremely good too. They seem to know what they are doing and with almost all the apartments sold when we purchased back in Nov it seems like they do.

Construction is due to finish mid 2006 but my guess is later rather than earlier that year. Apparently all the retail space is already rented too.

Once I get up there to view our pad (probably a year from now) I will post pics of the view.

Welcome to the forum Verve Resident.
Just have that camera ready. We are counting on you!
Perhaps you should invite Hacksaw to take a few shots as well:D

______________________________
I collect therefore I am:cool:

welcome to the board verve resident!

http://metropolis.tayser.net/misc/verve501.jpg

The non-glass areas look to be like they're going to look very much like PDG's other project's, Franklin Lofts, facade. Doesn't look like much in the rendering, but it's a hell of a lot better in the flesh, I just hope they do the same for Verve! And yeah as I said above, the upper levels in this baby are going to have one of the most unique views in the city - straight down St. Kilda Road directly over the top of the Shrine!

top remainds me a bit of Hordern Towers

http://213.203.248.217/files/transfer/6/2002/11/169724.jpg


its a real pity the monumental spire has gone from a 35m structure to just 10m. The architects told me it all had to to with costing.

http://www.primeinvestment.com.au/All_property_listings/Residential/VIC/Verve/Photos/verve_model4b-med.gif

Hey welcome VR ! Yes you should have a top quality apartment to look forward to in Verve. I look out from my balcony at their Franklin St tower (and soon to yours as well) and it's a quality building.

If they go on schedule and are well underway by mid this year following the building demolition then I think Q3 2006 is a very realistic target for occupancy.

Will the second tower go ahead, or is this another Southern Cross Office development where only 1 tower gets the go ahead??? :(

Aussie Steve: "let it ride with the market"

:)

Wow, you're one lucky dude VR. We're only getting a 2-bedroom apartment, and not too high up either (for safety & security reasons, serious). How many bedrooms does the penthouse have, just curious to know... :?

I don't know too much about the apartment; parents know A LOT more. I've had to sneak into my parents' room for the information and hope they don't come back anytime soon. Gosh you UK guys must be getting it good now, absolutely absurd exchange rates.

any recent pix of this project?

Demolition of the old Ansett low rise building is progressing very very well with almost half of it gone (as of last Friday). Marketing for the second tower has commenced and I am certain constrcution will happen before the middle of the year!

The socond 123m high, 35 level tower will be known as Milano Apartments - 8 Franklin Street.

It will be very interesting to see how the apartments in this tower sell as this is the first major aparmtnet release for at least six months. If the commentators are right it should be a dismal failure in the current market...

[i] Milano Apartments - 8 Franklin Street. [/B]

thats quite poor u think thet could think of a more suitable name name like central equity version 2 these a low quality design....

http://metropolis.tayser.net/projects/cbd/verve/verve2603041.jpg

Hurry up

http://metropolis.tayser.net/projects/cbd/verve/verve2603042.jpg

http://metropolis.tayser.net/projects/cbd/verve/verve2603043.jpg

Domolition is at Street level now.. you can't see any of the building left. All the scaffolding is down. (the green stuff in Tays' pics.)

:guns1: at long last!

What about the building on the corner of Franklin & Swanston (diagonally opposite RMIT Building 12) - the one with the Verve501 spam on it - is that gone? or still there?

No it's gone !!! Or practically gone.. the whole entire block is down to about 2 levels of shell including the Verve Spammed Display Suite (ex-Ansett Travel Centre R.I.P.)

The Frankis or Vibropiles will be onsite v.soon methinks..

the one with the Verve501 spam on it LOLOLOL :)

No walls left...only a few concrete pillars is that all remains...by next week they will be under streetlevel i reckon! I am pretty sure the portable crane has now been removed also.

BUILDING GONE....and piling (and digging?) has begun as of today (20/5). There are two piling machines on site.

PDG Corp is reporting, on their website, that 90% of the units have been sold. Fair achievement considering this started marketting when the correction was in full swing!

There's also a "Milano Apartments" registration of interest on the site - would that be the 2nd tower????????

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/

Yes Mr T, they have been advertising the Milano Apartments (second tower) for the past 2 months. Yipeeeee :D

d'oh.

pic taken turn of the month, they're currently piling the Milano tower section and the Verve core area. on the Milano, the podium has been redesigned to be a massive tiled (i think) mural of Michaelangelo's Creation of Adam

http://home.iprimus.com.au/revlis81/ver200405.JPG

who needs a vibrator :) :eek2:

nice shots!

Hello All

I am still waiting to head over to Melbourne from London so the pics I keep seeing of Verve on this site are much appreciated. At this stage I have had a couple of letters from the people at PDG. They seem very flexible. I will be over in September and will post a progress report after I have had a tour of the site.

Once we take ownership in '06 I will immediately post pics from our balcony up on the 46th floor. Only 2 years to go...

Let us know when you're over in September and we'll organise a get-together / drink around your trip over here ;)

cheers

Aldi look to have signed up as part of [some] the retail tenancies:

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/27/1088274626404.html

Yeh, Aldi had been in discussions with the developer months ago. This is great news, but I wouldn't shop there as I like my brands!

satisfied with Milano Apartments which have recently been launched. the partially redesigned tower looks totally distinct to Verve 501 which i thought was a good move considering there aren't an abundance of talls in the area; adds more character. OK podium, could have enlarged the red-black mural to cover the entire carpark, but you never know until the final product. added one level for 36 now, hard to see but more glass in the design than the pic shows

conveniently left out the 155m Verve that hugs the Eastern wall of Milano
http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/milano.jpg

This will be a very interesting test of the Melbourne apartment market. If you believe what you read in the papers then this tower should be a miserable failure.

It looks much better than the earlier enderings and with 36 levels and 123m it should be the 8th tallest apartment tower in Melbourne on completion (if it was completed today it would be the tallest!!!).

bigger pics:
http://www.milanoapartments.com.au/pop_ups/pu_images/ap_view3.jpg

http://www.milanoapartments.com.au/pop_ups/pu_images/apart_1.jpg

http://www.milanoapartments.com.au/pop_ups/pu_images/apart_2.jpg

http://www.milanoapartments.com.au/pop_ups/pu_images/apart_3.jpg

http://www.milanoapartments.com.au/pop_ups/pu_images/ap_park.jpg

http://www.milanoapartments.com.au

I am almost certain that this second tower will go ahead. As mentioned above, Aldi has committed to occupy the ground floor of this site and this to me means that Milano will be under construction by late 2004/early 2005. Yipeee :D

Are they both being constructed at the same time? The Milano podium is definately U/C. Maybe selling 90% of the apartments in Verve 501 has allowed them to get the finance to build both towewrs at the same time.

Looking good now lets get the RMIT/CUB site going.

This will be a very interesting test of the Melbourne apartment market. If you believe what you read in the papers then this tower should be a miserable failure.


You're right... im sick of all the doom and gloom talk.. it's everywhere, however the Verve 501 tower was marketed at the the beginning of the apparent down turn in the market. all were saying that PDG were foolish to launch it at that time, and that they should hold off, but its just about sold out(in the 90's%) and im sure the Milano Building will do very well also.

It just shows if u have fairly/reasonably priced appartments within a well designed development in a good location, it really doesnt matter.. u'll always get buyers.

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

Swanston Street sure as shit is bulking up eh

http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/2913/101712913cl1089766609.jpg

(realestate.com.au)

I have a new appreciation for the CUB site - it looks no where near as shit on the ground - lol. Just one big black void in that pic.

As Justin would say.. 'Senorita!'

I had no idea Milano would be so tall in its own right... this will look absolutely sensational this pair..

And I think Milano will sell fine if attractively priced.. it's more overpriced Southbank & Docklands thats still feeling the heat..

I'm confused - Verve 501 is still going ahead. It's the taller one, and right next to that (so close that it's nearly sharing the same wall) is Milano, by the same developer, but shorter and totally different design. Is that correct?

And which is going ahead first?

Are they BOTH going to be built?

At the moment, all the activity is centred around Verve 501, but I have a funny feeling that both will go up at the same time.

So have they released 2 separate towers at the same time???

They released the first tower months ago and its almost sold out and the second tower was only released recently (last few months).

BIG podium shot:

http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/5771/101725771ml1090215308.jpg

That rock climbing wall is going to look way cool.

me likey - actually one thing:

- see on far left of Milano at street level there's a car park entry - however none visible under the 501S podium... one primary entry for both buildings? If that's the case, big thumbs up, overall at street-level it looks quite "pleasant" ;)

just want to see what's in store for that part of Swanston Street.

Is that tram turnback / Victoria St section ever used??

me likey - actually one thing:

- see on far left of Milano at street level there's a car park entry - however none visible under the 501S podium... one primary entry for both buildings? If that's the case, big thumbs up, overall at street-level it looks quite "pleasant" ;)

just want to see what's in store for that part of Swanston Street.

Is that tram turnback / Victoria St section ever used??

Well it wont be anymore. that triangled section of Swanston St will be closed off and paved to become Verve's piaaza, with cafe's and resturants etc.

Should look good, and im liking all the glass and planned art works

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

Workmate purchased a 2 bedroom on the 19th floor yesterday for approx $300,000 ,he managed to speak to the owner who also owns the ansett ? building next door ,they had sold 5 other apartments on the same day and can hardly keep up.

Shove that all you Media doom dayers out there! :bleh:

2 bed for 300k. hrmm.

That's pretty friggin schmick pricing for a CBD 2 bedder no? Cos to me that's probably really good if you're single and earning a comfortable salary. I've just been comparing these prices I see on this forum and other sites to what my brother's paying for his 4 bed "The Montréal" McMansion in Bowman's Track (new estate north of the Princes HWY in Beaconsfield) for $320k - it always strikes me how different we both view the ideal place to live - complete opposites!

Yeah thats really good for a 2 bedroom
Do you know how many square meters?

I'll find out some more details tomorrow about that apartment Pisstake. :)

$300k for 2 beds is pretty darn good in todays market - I would buy one in a heartbeat but I'm happier being just that little bit closer to CBD heart where I am .. so guess it's all relative..

Milano's probably my ideal area - not too much noise, not likely to be as much, yet still walking distance to everything, practically right on top of MC station and about 20 tram routes to choose from within a 200m walk. And yes, that price gives me some hope of buying within - the next 20 years :lol:

Milano's probably my ideal area - not too much noise, not likely to be as much, yet still walking distance to everything, practically right on top of MC station and about 20 tram routes to choose from within a 200m walk. And yes, that price gives me some hope of buying within - the next 20 years :lol:

I agree with you there!

300k is an awesome price! I would definitely think about buying that!

You are right on about the location tays! Pretty awesome. Nice building too.

With Verve 501; i go passed the site every day, They have some nice advertising marterial all over the wall now but the site is currently empty.

I woult have a guess we are currently in the change over period between demolition and the real foundation works happening. There were pilers on site a month ago but they have seem to have disapeared.

check out the rock climber! finishes look ok would be interesting to see the Msq/floor plans wether it includes a carpark ect and what the body coporate fees are...

the podium looks great, but its probably going to be full of 7-11's and fast food stores prob lol

Found out a bit more info today on that apartment workmate purchased , exact price was $303,000 , floor size is approx 64sqm , usual smeg appliances etc approx 3 metre long balcony , apparently price goes up by 2-3 grand for every level you go up , which I guess is the norm.

Workmate did n't have alot more info as he purchased it as an investment property for his daughter who took care of all questions regarding the finer detail.This is only the families 34th property acquisition in Melbourne so it's all a bit of a yawn for them ! Bastards ! They buy mainly on the basis of the dwellings position and only when there is any sign of a downturn in the market. :puke:

I see foundations at the western end! Looks like the Milano Tower will go up at the same time! :D
http://img55.exs.cx/img55/2030/S1.jpg

http://img55.exs.cx/img55/655/S2.jpg

LOL @ the school chair!

A notice has been put in the papers stating that the section of Swanston St outside the development site is about to be closed for redevelopment into an open plaza!!!

Yay!!!! :D

that chair is set aside for ozscrape forumers only to watch progress

A notice has been put in the papers stating that the section of Swanston St outside the development site is about to be closed for redevelopment into an open plaza!!!

Yay!!!! :D

:banana: :banana: :cucumber: :cucumber: :carrot:

Barren wasteland - BE GONE WITH YOU!

http://www.thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/verve/verve1708041.jpg

No Really!!!!

http://www.thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/verve/verve1708042.jpg

Everyone put yer hands together for the next 'scraper canyon to grace the skies of Melbourne - Franklin Street

http://www.thehoddlegrid.net/projects/updates/cbd/verve/verve1708043.jpg

for those not in the know: Verve 501 and Milano will fill out the gap between Qantas and the footpath - w00t!

Just finished a quick drawing i've done for skyscraperpage.com, as the verve slot was blank.

Not too sure about the colours yet, as they varied in different pictures.

http://users.bigpond.net.au/elbungle/photos/verve5.gif

The roof was meant to go to 155m and the spire to 170m right?

OOO, love the 'actual view' :)
stu

Workmate bought another Milano apartment today , so far they have sold 90 and expect to be sold out within 10 weeks , not bad in these supposely Gloomy Doomy Times! :)

I am the guy who has bought one of the 2 bedroom apts in Verve 501. I am over in Melbourne for 4 weeks getting ready to move over in January. Verve is not ready for another 2 years (completion is set for mid to late 2006 but if I had to bet I would say Oct). So I have been checking out my new pad and also looking for a 2 year rental. So I have had a first hand tour of all the new places in the city.

Here are my findings...

Verve / Milano
I am so happy I decided on Verve. First the quality of the finishing and the design of my pad are first class. But the PDG people have been astonishing. I am not a plant or a family friend of one of these people - they have bent over backwards to accommodate me since, not prior to , my purchase. Example: we did not have a dedicated shower room but I asked them if I could put one in a vacant area. They talked it over with me, are now working on a new layout for my pad, and there will not be any extra charge. Brilliant, brilliant so far in every way. Verve has 4 or 5 apartments left to sell as far as I could see but is essentially sold out. Milano is selling really well - 100+ apartments have gone as far as I could tell from the display. The company seem very confident that they will sell most/all.

So I cant wait for 2006!

Eureka
This was my first choice. I have seen flaw plans and photos. It will complete in late Sept (the first of the three stages up to around 20th floor). There will be a new 30 seat cinema in basement and a microbrewey. Floor plans are very nice and finishings outstanding. They have mae great use of decks outside and tried to avoid overlooking other apartments from windows. Very impressive, of course. Rents for big 2 beds/ 1 study are high five hundreds.

QV1
A real winner too. Closing end of Sept. They are less high spec as Eureka but lovely location. It seems about half will be rented out by owners but agent said demand was very very high. QV has been very well marketed it seems. The only concern I had were that we were very close to a noisy area with no double glazing. But great views and interesting floor plans. Hopefully QV2 will follow suit.

Overall my impression of Melbourne is still supremely high. Yes there is a glut of apartment buildings but this has spurred on the builders to make bigger, taller, better places. Touring the different areas of downtown I can see Southbank becoming the good but medium / cheap end of the market. The centrally located apartments like QV and Verve will, I reckon, prove the best simply because you cannot keep building scrapers off Swanston and the location is the real thing as opposed to the wonderful but limited Southbank area. We will see...

I talked to the missus and when we finally get to move in to Verve I will invite all submitters from this group to come have a beer and check out the pad.

Best

Just finished a quick drawing i've done for skyscraperpage.com, as the verve slot was blank.

Not too sure about the colours yet, as they varied in different pictures.

http://users.bigpond.net.au/elbungle/photos/verve5.gif

The roof was meant to go to 155m and the spire to 170m right?
the main roof is 148m,
then the small plantroom located in the centre reaches 155m,
and spire tips 170m.
diagram looks ok. is the top green?
heres a 5min diagram a did showing heights/widths/colours ect. it has no detail.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/culwulla/verve501.jpg

yeah i think i may have been looking at a dated rendering too much.
ill do a bit of editting...

alright hows this?

http://users.bigpond.net.au/dduffy/verve7.gif

very cool!, just add the podium now and its spot on!

ok all done

heres a screenshot from skyscraperpage.com of verve and its similar height buildings. Pretty tall...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v390/ajduffy/sspcrop.jpg

Gee, I knew it was tall but not THAT tall. And it will look even taller from St Kilda Rd because of it being on top of a hill (or close to).

great duff! spot on. is that line up by "roof" heights? lol
at 170m it would be up with big boys.

How tall/how many floors will Milano be?

According to Emporis, 35 floors, and 123 metres.

The core for Verve 501 is under construction and may be complete by the end of the month. Works has also commenced on the foundations of Milano. I would guess that the core will also be ready by the middle of October. I think both will be built at the same time. Yipeeee :D

^^ Yeah that sounds right. Ive heard that most of the Apts in Milano are already sold so piling works underway on that site arent a major surpise. at 123m its a great compliment to the 170m bulk of Verve501 tower next door.

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

Who said the boom was over?

Bloody brilliant !!!! 123m + 500ft+ at that end of town is expansive to say the least..

The Bermuda Triangle is well underway (Verve in North, Vic Point in West, RDT in South)

Images are dated mid july, but still

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/verve501/aerial01.jpg

Any RMIT students / graduates want to speculate as to the location this was taken from:

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/verve501/aerial02.jpg

(is it only Academic's offices, or are there any classrooms in that commie block on the corner??)

:banana:

well i'm not a student but i worked in the dreadful old ansett building and that is from the roof looking over the ledge.
you are standing on a walkway between the ledge and the helipad.
they never let poor old Reginald land his chopper there so he had to settle for the yarra river pad until he croaked.
and to the right is the roof of Mac's Pub.

Bloody brilliant !!!! 123m + 500ft+ at that end of town is expansive to say the least..

The Bermuda Triangle is well underway (Verve in North, Vic Point in West, RDT in South)
metric & imperial in same sentence! lol
probably better saying 400 & 500 footer! :runaway:

no-one else willing to walk out to verve & milano for a photo?

to the right of the idle excavator is the core pit for milano, so i'd guess both will go up simultaneously

http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/svm 200409.jpg

Thanks to silvermb for the pic

http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/verve_3501.jpg

Looks almost like a mini world tower in Sydney.

The core for Verve has moved and is now at Swanston St level. The foundations for Milano are also in progress.

The title of this thread should be changed to Verve 501/Milano

Pics from 1 October:

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/milano/stage_01/Pan_E.JPG

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/milano/stage_01/Pan_A.JPG

Verve 501 Core:
http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/milano/stage_01/RIMG0015.JPG

Excavation works for the Milano apartments core:
http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/milano/stage_01/RIMG0007.JPG

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/milano/stage_01/RIMG0024.JPG


The refurbished PDG corp building (former Ansett):
http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/501exttwi.jpg

Cant even see anything that resembles the base for a tower crane,wouldnt be to long though.

this site looks so much better already without that old abandoned building there. Next to demolish that qantas building! :pepper:

its a bit dissapointing that they havnt really done much with the old ansett building. it has such a prominent position on that big corner. perhaps they could have dressed up the roof with an architectural lighting feature like 1 o'connell st in sydney

The core box is nearly complete and it is at level 1. There core is exposed to Ground floor. I am assuming ground is even with the swanston street side of the core. I walked passed and there looks to be 2 levels below ground. They dug it out quite quickly.

There are not tower crane bases yet. It won't be too long i don't think!

Hi Kasper,
this is what the core box was looking like on the weekend:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v488/phi1ip/Verve501/200410091609.jpg

I used silvermb's trick of standing on the chair on the footpath and holding the camera as far overhead as possible :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v488/phi1ip/Verve501/200410091610.jpg

excellent pics from the other threads phil, i'd like to have a look at a few more if you have any?
no stanting on chairs for me. stand next to the fence, raise the camera and hope for the best

http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/svm 20041012.jpg

Thanks Silver. True, you might not use the chair, but I'm not terribly tall.

I have more, but they're dud versions of the two pics I did put up. Yours are better, so I'll be down near RMIT tomorrow hopefully and get some practice in :)

They'll be in the bucket: http://photobucket.com/albums/v488/phi1ip/Verve501/

Pretty usless post but seeing I go past everyday,

The core box outings/metal/casing has been put up. With big Lusimon builders on the side!

This core is looks pretty big when at ground level! Are there any core changes as it goes up? Anyone got any plans?

I was at my mates apartment at Franklin Towers last night (across the road) and saw the Verve site. The corebox has gone up slightly from the previous pipctures but not much. Too bad I dont have a digital camera!

There is now advertising on the core box too! Yipeeee Another tall one going up in Melbourne!

hey kasperpuke (he he he) the core will remain unchanged all the way up, looks like a few Econ cranes aren't too far off

http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/svm20041029.jpg

Are Verve and Milano going up at the same time?! Any word on tenant precommitments?

Blue

What do you mean tenant precommitments? They are residential towers with a few small retail outlets and an Aldi store at ground level.

just drew PDG Corporate Centre for the SSP Melbourne diagram. Might be blah but it is cute:

http://www.users.bigpond.com/stclair2/PDGCORP.jpg

Cheers,

Adam

wow, i need a
magnifying glass
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/present/dia_jan_2000/DIA-Jan-2000-3.gif

good stuff.

I meant how many units have sold, and what kind of breakdown there is on investors vs owner occupiers etc.

Blue

Hey silver, dude, check out the towers being prepared. No Econ Cranes here baby, its Favco Favco Favco.

Don't know who's 'cause I don't care anymore, or so I've been told, but the colour of the tower on the truck in the second photo might be a hint as to whose cranes they might be.

The towers look to be modern towers, allthough there is a Favco 1500 which is a 25 year old crane on these towers in Sydney on the Emporio job in town.

The grollo coloured one might also be a 2700 tower, which is the same as the 5 big towers on the bottom of the crane at Beacon Cove. It's hard to tell without seeing the width of the tower v's the width of the truck.

Anyway, it's all good news cause this means that there is about two weeks to go before a crane goes up.

The white tower is a great photo in that it shows you how little/much sticks into the ground underneath all those cranes in town. That's it, those four legs, oh, and a bit of reo&concrete.

the form for Milano's core is almost complete, so both will rise simultaneously

favco, when the semi says Econ Construction on the side ill take it as Econ. check out panorama sky in market st, its a luffing type with Econ logos all over. im guessing Econ is the operator

Yeah, your right. The westpoint job??? is that the one you mean??? That is a Favco 350, very small crane by todays Melbourne standards but still very capable machine. There would be at least 20 Favco 350's up on the Gold Coast roaring away. The difference with down here is the preference for building methods such as precast panels. the maximum lift a 350 can make is 7t set up with one fall, or 14t with 2 falls of rope using a sheave type hook. Melbourne seems to favour the bigger cranes with the 16t option on one fall, such as Favelle M310D's, 380D's or even the dinosaur Favco 1500's.

The one at Market St, it is an Econ crane, and as far as I know, the only diesel luffing crane that they have. There has/was a similar crane in Elite's yard just sitting on the ground up the back corner a little while ago, but I don't know if it is still there. It did seem to be too small for the towers that look like they are being used here however.

One needs to remember that the name written all over the crane, truck, etc doesn't mean ownership. It is more likely with the cranes to be a sign of hire-ship (Is there such a word) The truck however is most likely theirs if you saw a sign on it. Example, the four cranes at Vic Point seem to be Multiplex's all over, but they are not. Same as HWT or Condor, seem to be BLL but they're not.

The core for Verve501 has moved up a level. Its now 2 levels above Swanston St. And the core box for Milano is almost complete ready for concrete very very soon!!! :D

good updates via PDG website

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/milano/stage_02/Pan_B.jpg

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/milano/stage_02/RIMG0050.jpg

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/milano/stage_02/RIMG0024.jpg

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/milano/stage_02/RIMG0079.jpg

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/milano/stage_02/RIMG0100.jpg

http://www.pdgcorp.com.au/images/milano/stage_02/RIMG0022.jpg

Yipeeee

Great pics!

The crane tower in the above photo is new, or newish at least. Might be a newish crane to go here, how long before Melb Central crane comes down???? That would be my bet.

Who wants to have a go at rendering these two in place? :)

http://www.realestate.com.au/objects/props/6321/102066321ml1101771970.jpg

God, I hate that Ibis Hotel. Its like a piece of Queensland in the heart of Melbourne. That and the red / cream (&cheap looking) CE apartment near Freshwater Place should be exported to Rockhampton where they belong. LOL The Ibis Hotel almost makes the Ansett Tower look classy and attractive. And that takes some doing! Still, I think this part of town will really come along in the next couple of years. Lets hope they lay off the pastels though, at least where high rises are concerned. I have nothing against a pink terrace house in Carlton but the last thing Melbourne needs is further bunch of tall 'pastel babies' in shades of yellow, purple, orange or pink littering this side of town.

crane new out of the box (so to speak). the site's been plodding along recently; about time there's some action

http://silvermb.thehoddlegrid.net/svm200412.jpg

Nice work Silver. As you predicted ages ago, Econ crane. Very strange having two pedestals, fair chunk of crane, either M380D like Eureka and Hallmark or M440D like HWT and MCG.

Hi guys, I went past on the tram this afternoon and it looks like the crane is now in place on top of the tower. I'll try to get down tomorrow and take some nice piccies for you...

Edit: here's the crane tower, and a close up of the crane itself. On the 22nd it appeared as though they fitting the boom and rigging to the crane. (But I'm not a crane driver like some around here, so what would I know ;-)

Later I'll add some more photos of the Vèrve and Milano cores at http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v488/phi1ip/Verve501/

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v488/phi1ip/Verve501/200412231403.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v488/phi1ip/Verve501/200412231404.jpg

Anyone here see the Channel 31 ads Mayor So did for Milano, that he's now getting kicked for? Personally, I don't see the problem, but the other councillors were just a bit ticked off according to The Age.

Anyone here see the Channel 31 ads Mayor So did for Milano, that he's now getting kicked for? Personally, I don't see the problem, but the other councillors were just a bit ticked off according to The Age.
Storm in a tea cup they all backed off and went very easy on hin when they realised it was only a promotonial film clip that was inserted by the company - not an endorsment to buy from the LM

Verve 501
http://img105.exs.cx/img105/4787/dsc004575mw.jpg

Milano
http://img105.exs.cx/img105/5916/dsc004586wk.jpg

http://img153.exs.cx/img153/4394/P1214803.jpg

Two from the Verve website 16-2-05
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/emerbot/Pan_Y.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/emerbot/Pan_U.jpg

RMIT people: which faculty's in that corner commie block? and would that first pic be taken from a semi-public area or a faculty / school office??

great shots abc. thanks for posting. really show you exactly what status is.
im pretty sure verve is 5 floors in core.milano looks 3?

Originally posted by tayser
RMIT people: which faculty's in that corner commie block? and would that first pic be taken from a semi-public area or a faculty / school office??

not sure about the one that overlooks the verve site but my faculty (built enviroment is its propper name i think) has an amazing view of QV (north) and concept blue

The twins are rising up and up! :D

Crappy day for phots I couldn't get the balance of the light right.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/lukekasper/Milano.jpg

Pumping that concrete
http://members.optusnet.com.au/lukekasper/concrete.jpg

Core rise on Verve 501 since my last photo.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/lukekasper/verve.jpg

I was down at RMIT at lunchtime and passing by the PDG site there is now a crane tower up for Milano. No deck yet but I'll keep my eyes peeled - the crane won't be far away. Recent work seems to have been concentrated on Vèrve's floorplates, neither tower appears to have had a core rise for a couple of weeks.

That crane should swing a wreckers ball into that foul junk Ibis Hotel and a few others like it. So you can do calcs on height each crane support section is just on 2 metres high.

That crane should swing a wreckers ball into that foul junk Ibis Hotel and a few others like it. So you can do calcs on height each crane support section is just on 2 metres high.
Try about 4mtrs

That crane should swing a wreckers ball into that foul junk Ibis Hotel and a few others like it. So you can do calcs on height each crane support section is just on 2 metres high.


towers mostly 3m, newer ones are 4m. :cheers:

Second crane is going up...watched it go up today.

This crane seems to have a smaller width box pieces! If you know what I mean.
http://members.optusnet.com.au/lukekasper/crane1.jpg

http://members.optusnet.com.au/lukekasper/crane2.jpg

http://members.optusnet.com.au/lukekasper/trucks.jpg

Plenty of guys watching! lol
http://members.optusnet.com.au/lukekasper/ground1.jpg

nice kasper, nice!

first hand ;)

Bonza kasperluke, and bonzai!!

Totally different cranes Kasper, newer one is a Favco 1000E whilst original one is a Favelle M380D. WTF??? with the Liebherr towers FavL, maybe the Verticon influence is starting to show through???????? Nice shots. Very Nice shots. :) Very Qld way of splitting A-frame too, down here it is stood up and then pushed apart.

First Comedil luffer i have ever seen.Not a bad size crane.

Totally different cranes Kasper, newer one is a Favco 1000E whilst original one is a Favelle M380D. WTF??? with the Liebherr towers FavL, maybe the Verticon influence is starting to show through???????? Nice shots. Very Nice shots. :) Very Qld way of splitting A-frame too, down here it is stood up and then pushed apart.
Have a closer look at boom And A-Frame. :)

Yeah, go on, A Frame is definately unique, boom looks like square chords, tip of A frame, ladder and Crows nest all different, fucking heaps of diffs when you look, but cabin and deck look 1000E, especially the hole at the back for cwts except there is no sharks teeth for cwts to sit in.

So WTF is it???????????????????????????????? Not #008 with a rebuild I hope!!!!

Ever see a 1000e with a pedestal like this.Its an Italian Comedil. :) trust me i'm a doctor :runaway:

yeah, double pedestal no doubt, but 380 has the same thing????????? What ecarchery did you specialise in for your PHD?????? Ha Ha Ha :)