By Cara Waters
Two council car parks will be converted into apartments – including some affordable homes – under a plan to be outlined in the City of Melbourne’s budget next week.
The car parks – at 44-60 Curzon Street in North Melbourne and 325-341 Victoria Street, West Melbourne – would be used for multi-unit housing and could include provisions for key workers, Indigenous people and older women.
The car park at 325-341 Victoria Street, West Melbourne, is one of two earmarked by the City of Melbourne for new affordable housing projects.Credit: Justin McManus.
Under the plan, the City of Melbourne will hand 2600 square metres of land over to developers or community housing providers on heavily discounted peppercorn leases.
About 100 homes would then be built on the sites and sold, but the number of affordable homes is not yet known. The council describes affordable homes as “housing, including social housing, that is appropriate for the housing needs of very low, low, and moderate income households”.
The council said it was committed to “maximising affordable housing solutions” in the developments.
The City of Melbourne has calculated there is a shortfall of 6000 affordable homes across the city, and that is set to increase to 23,000 by 2036.
Under the council plan, a total of about 100 homes would be built on two carparks, including this one at 44-60 Curzon Street, North Melbourne.Credit: Justin McManus
The council’s Affordable Housing Strategy has a target of delivering up to 25 per cent of affordable housing on council land to address the shortfall. However, some recent developments have a lower figure, such as the approved Gurrowa Place Towers at Queen Victoria Market with 15 per cent affordable housing.
Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the City of Melbourne was committed to providing affordable housing for key workers – such as nurses, teachers, cleaners and security guards – who were required to attend their workplace and generally low-to-middle income earners.
“Melbourne is in a housing crisis – every home that becomes available matters,” she said. “We’ll be working with developers and community housing providers.”
Capp said more key workers were employed in the City of Melbourne municipality than anywhere else in Victoria, and about 30 per cent of these key workers travelled more than two hours each way to work.
“We want to really push what’s possible on those sites, but of course within the planning regime,” she said.
“It’s likely that there will be long-term peppercorn leases, so that’s really going to help the financial dynamics of the projects.”
May Lim, operator of the French Quarter Patisserie across the road from the Curzon street car park, said she was concerned about the plans.
“There are already a lot of people complaining about no parking; they come in and they can’t find a park,” she said.
Rose Mitchell, a member of the City of Melbourne’s affordable housing panel, said Australia was lagging Europe on affordable housing. Credit: Justin McManus
However, Docklands resident Rose Mitchell – a member of the City of Melbourne’s Affordable Housing People’s Panel – said housing had to be the priority.
“There is no bloody housing,” she said. “People are living in cars that have jobs.”
Mitchell said Australia was far behind Europe in requiring a percentage of new housing to be affordable.
“It’s most welcome because there is a definite need for housing in the municipality,” she said. “Thank Christ they are starting to do it.”
The council’s budget will also include a $1.5 million boost for homelessness services, including Launch Housing’s on-street daily support team and the Salvation Army’s after-hours safe space, and specialist youth homelessness support through Melbourne City Missions Frontyard Youth Services.
The draft budget will be announced on Tuesday.
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