184 Station St, Port Melbourne

15 November 2021

An advertisement appeared in The Emerald Hill, Sandridge and St Kilda Times on 20 October 1983 for the sale of Gainsborough House at 184 Station St. It was to be auctioned by Mustow & Kemp on Saturday October 29th. 

The paper said 'it is constructed in two sections - a ramshackle but reasonably attractive Victorian weatherboard front with a massive, two-storey brick mansion tacked on the back.

The contrast between the quaint and the stern is hardly awe-inspiring, but inside the mixture works far better than expected.

The long, two-flight staircase is magnificent and still in good order'. 

All ten main rooms had original features like open fireplaces with ornate, carved wooden mirrors. 

114 Dow St, Port Melbourne

November 2021

114 Dow St, November 2021

Planning application

Construction of a new three storey dwelling and garage.

1 May 2018

The property, you could hardly say the house, sold for $1,235,000.

Cayzer 114 Dow Street, Port Melbourne

photo credit Cayzer 

photo credit Cayzeer

photo credit  Cayzer

30 May 2017

This house in lamentably poor condition is one to keep an eye on. These very simple, very plain houses are very early Port.

112 Ross St, Port Melbourne

 26 April 1990

112 Ross St, Emerald Hill, Sandridge and St Kilda Times

110 - 112 Albert St, Port Melbourne

 26 April 1990

110-112 Albert St, Emerald Hill, Sandridge and St Kilda Times

187 Clark St, Port Melbourne

 26 April 1990

187 Clark St, Emerald Hill, Sandridge and St Kilda Times

7,9 & 11 Legon St, Port Melbourne

12 May 1990

The site was offered for sale by auction on 12 May by Hocking Stuart.

16 Bridge St, Port Melbourne

 April 1999

The house at 16 Bridge St was put up for sale by auction on 24 April 1999. It was advertised in the Emerald Hill Times.

122 Albert St, Port Melbourne

 April 1999

The house was offered for sale by auction by estate agent Cayzer in the Emerald Hill Times.

122 Albert St was auctioned on 1 May 1999

127 Stokes St, Port Melbourne

 April 21 - 27, 1999

The house was advertised for sale by auction by Mahar estate agents in the Emerald Hill Times.

127 Stokes St, Port Melbourne, April 1999

237 Princes St, Port Melbourne

November 2021

The basement is excavated.

the basement, 237 Princes St, Port Melbourne, 13 November 2021

July 2021

Work has begun on site.

237 Princes St, Port Melbourne, July 2021

10 October 2020

All that remains of 237 Princes St - an outside laundry and a shed.

The uneven brick work of the neighbouring property is revealed.

all that remains of 237 Princes St

neighbouring brick wall

29 September 2020

Demolition underway. 

The final days of 237 Princes St, Port Melbourne 

September 2020

237 Princes St clings on but not for much longer it seems. An amendment to the planning permit has been sought to add a lift and a stair to the roof deck. 

October 2017

The property will be sold by Cayzer on 21 October for $1,400,000 with endorsed plans for a three level dwelling.

237 Princes St is for sale, October 2017

2 February 2017

On this day, the City of Port Phillip granted a permit to demolish the house and replace it with a three storey dwelling. The application went back to 2015. (ref 1297/2015)

2 November 2015

Over a period of time 237 Princes St deteriorated to such an extent that it appeared it would just fall into a heap. I thought it was gone.

237 Princes St, 29 August 2011

And then it had a coat of paint and looks set for a new lease of life.

237 Princes St, November 2015

Sales history

October 2017: $1,400,000

April 2014: $835k  

July 1997: $230k

March 1978: 32k

(source: domain.com.au)

378 - 382 Bay St, Port Melbourne

30 October 2021

378 Bay St sold at auction for $2.2 million with more than 110 people looking on. The auction followed the easing of Melbourne's lockdown the preceding evening. The property had been in the hands of the same family for 37 years.

378 - 382 Bay St, Port Melbourne

This handsome threesome of houses at the northern end of Bay St were constructed in 1900. The tree obscures some of the details described in the citation below.
"The allotment was purchased from the Crown by T Fordham. By February 1900 the land was owned by James McLaughlan, of Howe Crescent, South Melbourne. During that year he erected three 8 room brick houses.


A rare example in Port Melbourne of a grand terrace of three houses, it is of unusually late date for the style. The terrace demonstrates the original mixed residential and commercial character of Bay Street. The terrace is notable for its elaborate parapet design and cast iron balcony decoration. These three two storey terrace houses were constructed in polychromatic brickwork, now painted. They are relatively wide and have cast iron balconies and verandahs. The central house is more elaborate than its flanking neighbour, having a triangular pedimented parapet and more complex cast iron decoration. In addition, the central house has tripartitite windows, arched to the ground floor, rather than the paired windows found on the other three houses. The cornice detailing on the two outer houses differ from that on the central house. The south house has a rectangular pediment which differs from the possibly altered pediment on the north house. The original decorative urns have been removed."

Source: City of Port Phillip Heritage Review Database No: 256

359 Plummer St, Port Melbourne

November 2021

The site was purchased by Perri Projects for $15.65 million.

For the moment, Perri intends to upgrade the existing buildings to create a business park.

October 2021

The site is for sale by expression of interest, 3 November at 12 noon, by Lemon Baxter

Land area 7,377 sqm

58 Station St, Port Melbourne

September 2021

The house has been demolished and the site cleared. 

And so ends this chapter in the life of 58 Station St, Port Melbourne.

all clear at 58 Station St, Port Melbourne

19 June 2021

The property is deteriorating. It has been secured with a fence.

58 Station St, Port Melbourne 

10 November 2018

The property changed hands again for $860,000.

20 June 2017

The house at 58 Station St was sold by Cayzer for $964,000. It is reported that a jogger going past bought it on a whim and paid $194,000 over the reserve. 

Opposite Port Melbourne's Railway Reserves, minutes from Graham station and just a few more to the beach and Bay St, its advantages are easy to see.

Mrs Timms watches the world go by 1987
Port Melbourne Historical & Preservation Society collection 

2009

58 Station St looking a tad neglected.

58 Station St, Port Melbourne 26 September 2009

525 Graham St, Port Melbourne

 October 2021

The Goodman Group has reportedly acquired the site for $35 to $40 million.

10 July 2021

The Port Melbourne base of Frank Walker's National Tiles is for sale, and is expected to fetch more than $30 million.

The 1.4 ha site has been in the hands of Mirisklavos Properties (previously called Twenty-Fifth Shackle) for 34 years. (source: The Age, Commercial Real Estate)

The agent, Savills, describes it as a 'precinct defining site' with significant development potential. It is in the Wirraway precinct of the Fishermans Bend renewal area.

It is immediately west of the Fishermans Bend Woolworths which opened in July. 

The site for sale in Graham St, Port Melbourne

looking north, 525 Graham St

179 - 185 Normanby Rd, Southbank

Laconia

October 2021

Helloworld Travel director, former Liberal government treasurer Andrew Burnes, is selling the former Laconia Woollen Mills. (source: realestatesource.com.au)

May 2016

A planning permit for a 41 level building was lodged in May 2016 (PA1600105). 

It was called in by the Minister for Planning, along with other Normanby Rd applications on 22 February 2018 pending the outcome and recommendations of the Fishermans Bend Review Panel.

Mr Burnes paid $7.04m for Laconia House in late 2011.

Laconia House catches the morning sun

Land area 2,008sqm

144 - 148 Ferrars St, South Melbourne

March 2020

Just finishing touches now. 

Part of the building is occupied by Ravensdown Shipping Services, importers to New Zealand. 

Addressing the corner of Ferrars & Thistlethwaite Sts, March 2020

15 December 2019

The building nears completion.

to the corner of Ferrars and Thistlethwaite St

1 October 2018

The buildings on the corner of Ferrars and Thistlethwaite St have been demolished to make way for a six level mixed use development designed by Jackson Clements Burrows. (source: Urban Melbourne)

144 - 148 Ferrars St, 2018

A permit for the development was issued by the City of Port Phillip on 28 March 2018. (reference 951/2017)

March 2010

The property was sold for $1,177,000 (source onthehouse.com.au)

144 - 148 Ferrars St, photo credit Dixon Kestles

c2000

The premises were used for cassette copy and video duplication

Follow the link to the State Library of Victoria website to see a Lyle Fowler photograph of this corner in 1964 when it was occupied by Holvex.

86 Evans St, Port Melbourne

30 September 2021

The property is up for auction in October.

86 Evans St, Port Melbourne September 2021

November 2018

Planning application 510/2018 has been lodged with the City of Port Phillip for the demolition of the existing dwelling, outbuildings and fences and construction of a two storey dwelling with basement and boundary fences.

May 2018

This quaint former shop, formerly Demmler's Boot Shop, on the corner of Evans and Bridge St was sold by Cayzer for $868,000 on 26 May.

86 Evans St, May 2018 

In May 1981, the property was sold for $18,500. (source: realestate.com.au)

To find out more about the former residents and owners of this property, visit the Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society's History of a Street Precinct. 

134 - 142 Ferrars St, Montague

Montague Square 

September 2021

Finishing touch.

April 2021

Easter Sunday 2021, the view from Kirrip Park

February 2021

Completion is expected in October 2021.

South Melbourne Primary School & Montague Square from Kirrip Park

April 2020

The development is now known as Montague Square.

18 storey Build to Rent development
107 Apartments: 15,867m2 GFA 

"The building’s podium emphasizes a solidity in response to the robust older industrial architectural forms found in the South Melbourne area."

Architect: Rothelowman

Builder: Element Five

Montague Square 

March 2019

The buildings on site at 134 - 142 Ferrars St have been demolished. Only the sub-station remains.

The site from neighbouring South Melbourne Primary School

April 2017

On 10 April 2017 the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal* directed a permit issue to allow construction of a building of no more than 18 levels. The development was approved to include 17 three bedroom homes and 6 affordable housing units to be managed by a housing association. 

US technology company Sunguard Availability Services is the developer, Rothelowman the architects.

This site is immediately opposite the new South Melbourne Primary School – Ferrars St.

*VCAT Order P2305/2016 6 April 2017

permit 2013/000088 was granted on 10 April 2017

28 April 2013

The Port Phillip Council did not support the proposal for a 49 storey development at 134 – 142 Ferrars St, and has asked the Minister for Planning to refuse the application.

134 - 142 Ferrars St, April 2013

The proposal failed the Council’s assessment on a range of tests. Most importantly that it greatly exceeded the height and scale preferred in the Council’s adopted Montague Structure Plan.

The environmental performance of the proposal was not considered adequate. The proposal was assessed against the Montague Structure Plan in the absence of a plan for the Fishermans Bend Urban Renewal Area (FBURA). There is also no development contribution plan in place.

The planning report recommended that no permit should be granted until such a plan is in place and added that ‘this is preferable than piecemeal agreements between the Minster for Planning and developers, which may result in ad-hoc, uncoordinated and inconsistent works within the FBURA'.

Mark Baljak writes about the 49 level proposal at Urban Melbourne, Leading the way 134 - 142 Ferrars St.

July 2012

The 1,970 m2 site was sold for $3,036,000

In February 2000, the site was sold for $2,250,000, and in November 1983 for $952,000. (source: realestate.com)

10/339 Williamstown Rd, Port Melbourne

September 2021

The plane trees have had their annual haircut revealing the very nearly complete development. 

339 Williamstown Rd, September 2021

May 2020

The buildings on site are being demolished.

10/339 Williamstown Rd, May 2020

Site clearance is by Green Demolition & Earthworks.

Planning permit 1060/2016/A was granted on 18 February 2020

April 2020

The project formerly known as The Fields is now advertised as The Evelyn by BSPK. The project has 23 dwellings, including 2 four bedroom penthouses.

Architects: Schmidt & Pang Architects

339 Williamstown Rd, April 2020

226 Bay St, Port Melbourne

March 2020

Many people gathered on 4 May to follow the sale of this significant property on the corner of Bay & Liardet Sts. The property was sold for $3,705,000.

Gathering for the auction of 226 Bay St, Port Melbourne

Historical note:

On 21 November 1885, a contract was let for 2,200 pounds for the erection of offices and other buildings for the Second Port Melbourne Building Society. The successful tenderer for the work was Mr Dubbledan, a local contractor. 

Read more about the Dubbledan family in this very interesting article from the Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society.

F.T. Derham, MLA, was the President of the Second Port Melbourne Building Society at their Annual General Meeting on 13 November 1888.

409 Graham St, Port Melbourne

August 2021

A planning permit is sought to re-develop this property. Since there is no heritage overlay, no permit is required to demolish it.  

409 Graham St, August 2021

The house was sold on 12 December 2015 for $1,290,000.