Funding Secured for $150m Melbourne Tower

Funding has been secured for a 25-storey apartment building in West Melbourne, paving the way for demolition work to get started.

Developers UAG are heading up the high-rise project, Flagstaff Hill, which will be made up of 171 apartments including four luxury penthouses, a Skydeck and other resident perks.

The $150 million development has received backing from Commonwealth Bank and Qualitas after selling 70% of the apartments during the lockdown period with a recent influx of buyers taking advantage of the HomeBuilder grant.

UAG founder, Nicole Chow, said that the sales success was a testament to Flagstaff Hill and told of her delight to see shovels in the ground so soon.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to be delivering this 25-storey tower overlooking Flagstaff Gardens on Melbourne’s city fringe that will enhance the city’s already striking skyline,” she said.

“Being able to secure bank funding in this current environment and generating the required pre-sales to commence works onsite in only 10 months whilst in the midst of an unprecedented economic shutdown points to the strength of the project in its location, design, and market positioning,” Ms Chow said.

The development has certainly been a hit, with a variety of buyers queuing up to get their hands on an apartment, as buyer confidence in Melbourne looks to be rising again sharply.

The number of cranes in Melbourne’s CBD is always a good indicator of market sentiment and economic resilience so we are proud to soon be among those cranes again in a time like this.

UAG Founder – Nicole Chow

“30 per cent of sales were first homebuyers, 30 per cent upsizers and downsizers and 40 per cent were investors, so it’s evident that the product mix perfectly meets the demand of the market,” she said.

A $55 million-plus building contract has been awarded to Maxcon to deliver the Dudley Street site, with architects BCS behind the design of the tower.

Managing director of BCS, Tony Battersby, said: “Flagstaff Hill continues the legacy of thoughtfully-designed and well-built projects that we have created with Nicole Chow and UAG.”

The design team and talented consultants have all contributed to this remarkable outcome under very challenging COVID-19 circumstances.

Managing Director BCS – Tony Battersby

“We are confident in our chosen builder, Maxcon to deliver another signature project for UAG,” he said.