Habitat Development Group kick off construction at Birtinya apartment development, St Clair

During July, Urban.com.au reported on City of Melbourne's positive response to Salta Properties' bid to have a skyscraper approved at 63 Exhibition Street.

Last week a permit for the mixed-use, Bates Smart-designed tower was granted by the Minister for Planning, concluding a lengthy three-year stint at planning for the application. During City of Melbourne's assessment of the project, the project was to rise 203m and hold an expected development cost of $255 million.

City of Melbourne planners, in turn, requested it be reduced to 183 metres in order to prevent overshadowing of Birrarung Marr; it is unknown if the approved version has been reduced to adhere to City of Melbourne's wishes.

Regardless of the tower's final height, it can now replace the incumbent ASF House with both apartments and a hotel component.

63 Exhibition Street's approval marks off another of the diminishing number of projects which were assessed under the previous government, prior to the Minister for Planning's sweeping inner-city planning reforms. Earlier this month fellow CBD high-rise 478-488 Elizabeth Street also won approval, although at the hand of VCAT.

The positive planning result for the above two skyscrapers leaves only a handful of applications to be assessed under the previous planning regime; two such projects are 100 Franklin Street and 441-451 Elizabeth Street.

63 Exhibition Street joins the developer's approved tower at 699 La Trobe Street. The latter will be among Melbourne's first build-to-rent developments and is expected to include 260 apartments and a five-star hotel.