The 400 Queen Street project will deliver nearly 1,600 homes, including 900 purpose-built student beds, in one of the tallest towers on the CBD’s western edge.
Victorian Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny has approved a $495 million residential tower at 400 Queen Street that will rank among Melbourne’s 25 tallest buildings.
Malaysian property giant Sime Darby Property will develop the 65-storey project, which includes 693 apartments and 900 purpose-built student accommodation beds.
The COX Architects-designed tower will also include office and retail space, with an $8 million contribution towards affordable housing projects across the state.
Sime Darby purchased the site – a seven-storey car park that housed TMG College Australia – for $115 million in 2024.
“We’ve approved more than 1,500 homes right in the heart of the CBD – so more people can live closer to work, uni, public transport and everything they need,” Ms Kilkenny said.
The site sits near Queen Victoria Market and within walking distance of Flagstaff, Melbourne Central and State Library stations, as well as RMIT and the University of Melbourne.
The approval is part of a broader push by the state government to increase housing density near transport and employment hubs.
Victoria continues to lead national home building approvals, though the government acknowledged more work remains to meet housing targets.
Urban Development Institute of Australia Victorian executive director Linda Allison said while they appreciated planning approval support from the government “the overall fundamentals still have to stack up”.
“It’s been challenging in Victoria since post-Covid, particularly for the apartment sector, and we would expect that to continue unless there’s some kind of intervention that supports industry to get these projects out of the ground,” Ms Allison told realestate.com.au.