Sydney Australia, Oct 30 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leading Australian property developer Crown Group will launch its first Melbourne development next month.
Crown Group Chairman and CEO Iwan Sunito said Artis, in prestigious Southbank, was part of Crown Group’s plan to create a $3 billion development pipeline in Melbourne.
“We are confident to launch in the current market because we are supported by key market fundamentals – it is in a prime, highly sought-after location outside of the Melbourne CBD; there is strong demand for a boutique development with unique design; and there is restricted supply of such a product.
Mr Sunito said having only 153 apartments, uninterrupted city views and a design by internationally renowned Koichi Takada Architects meant it was a truly limited offering.
“There are very few developers launching in Melbourne in 2021 and therefore limited stock available to meet the pent-up demand,” he said. “There has also been a lot of anticipation about Crown Group coming to Melbourne for the first time.”
Crown Group, which has offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Indonesia, and Los Angeles, has teamed with experienced Melbourne residential developer G3 Projects in their first joint venture. G3 Projects, headed by Bobby Iskandar Lim, has made a name for itself with numerous sophisticated boutique projects across Melbourne over the past 25 years.
The landmark building will change the face of Southbank with its beautiful white ribbon-effect façade that reflects the movement of art in motion. Set across a corner site of 2070sqm at 175 Sturt Street, Artis will host 153 luxurious one, two and three-bedroom apartments and penthouses. Residents will have access to Crown Group’s signature resort-style facilities, which include a beautiful rooftop lounge with garden and children’s play area, level one gym and spectacular indoor pool and jacuzzi. A community arts space and café will provide a space for local artists to exhibit.
Melbourne’s City Fringe and St Kilda Road Precinct – Colliers InternationalColliers Director, International Residential Melbourne, Robert Papaleo, said Artis would border the St Kilda Road precinct, offering prime living on the city fringe with easy access to the Royal Botanic Gardens and some of Melbourne’s most prestigious schools.
“The rejuvenation of Southbank is continuing, with transformation of its riverside precinct and creation of new public spaces to match the appeal of the renowned St Kilda Road boulevard,” Mr Papaleo said. “This location is only set to improve with the opening of the new Anzac Metro Station in 2025, 600m away, and the $200m of improvements by the Victorian Government that will reinforce the primacy of the Southbank arts and cultural precinct.”
He said Melbourne’s contemporary apartment market had enjoyed its re-birth via several projects around Southbank 30 years ago and now continued to evolve along with Melbourne’s improved global city status. “Artis will be at the frontier of the next generation of sophisticated apartment living in Melbourne with a standard of design that will meet the demands of increasingly discerning apartment dwellers,” he said.
Mr Papaleo said Artis would launch at a time when new apartment supply in Melbourne was falling dramatically. The mid-2010s saw an unprecedented wave of new apartments built across Melbourne which was supported by an equally unprecedented level of demand,” he said. “This supported a fundamentally strong apartment market. The outlook now is for new apartment completions to fall dramatically post 2022 with buyers of quality apartments in city fringe locations like Southbank facing limited choices.”
The Design – Art in MotionArchitect Koichi Takada said Artis was at the gateway to the Melbourne Arts Precinct, so the design naturally celebrates the city’s vibrant arts scene and sense of community.
“When we started designing, we wanted to think about the connection between art and form – in other words art and architecture,” he said. “And of course, art and architecture are contrary – one has no defined function, the other has a function and are static. So, we came up with this concept of art in motion. And motion is not something we usually associate with architecture. Therefore, it created a sense of tension between art and architecture – a contrast that we hope to humanise the high-rise building in an urban context.”
Mr Takada said he was inspired by images in the arts to come up with the design, which has two striking curved white towers encircled by sinuous white “ribbons”. “The design was inspired by the tempo of music, adagio and legato, creating movement and fluidity throughout the spaces that is smooth and connected. The lower height and the community art space would also help humanise the buildings by giving back to the community. It is designed to be a platform for emerging artists.”
“In terms of urban developments, there are a lot of spaces within this one where you can find a sense of escape,” he said. “This is something Crown Group does really well, with resort-style living and common amenities such as rooftop garden terraces, a residents’ room, a children’s playroom and gym. In that sense it is very much a Crown Group signature building.”
Southbank – An Evolving Arts PrecinctMelbourne Arts Precinct in Southbank forms the city’s cultural heart, with a higher concentration of galleries, theatres and art spaces than most cities in the world. The precinct shows more than 3000 performances and exhibitions each year.
It is home to Australia’s most visited gallery, the National Gallery of Victoria, and the nation’s largest performing arts centre, Arts Centre Melbourne – home to The Australian Ballet, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Theatre Company and Opera Australia.
The Victorian Government is now working to transform the Melbourne Arts Precinct into one of the great creative and cultural destinations of the world with a $200 million funding boost.
The Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation will create major new attractions such as NGV Contemporary – set to be Australia’s largest gallery dedicated to contemporary art and design – and Arts Centre Melbourne’s new creative hub at 1 City Road, which will feature a new Australian Performing Arts Gallery, an expanded Australian Music Vault that celebrates Australia’s contemporary music story.
The project will also modernise Arts Centre Melbourne’s Theatres Building – under the city’s landmark Spire. Complementing this will be 18,000 square metres of new and renewed pedestrian and garden areas to connect the surrounding neighbourhood with the amazing array of cultural institutions at its heart.
For more information, visit
https://www.crowngroup.com.au/melbourne/Attachments 
