The Avenue, Coburg

• Buildings to reflect neighbourhood character
• Materials from existing structures such as bricks and existing site walls will be recycled for use in landscape design and external cladding
• Communal open spaces for residents, including roof top terraces
• On site car parking and bicycle spaces for residents and visitors
• More than 50% of the site is open space

• Retention of high value trees along existing street scapes
• Treating, retaining and reusing stormwater to best practice guidelines
• Provision for electric vehicle charging
• Minimum 5-Star Green Star building certification

• New public open space created on The Avenue
• Provision of a café an 80sqm retail at the corner of The Avenue and De Carle Street

• A mix apartments of varying sizes to cater for different household sizes and stages of life
• Purchase and rental options for residents
• 10% dedicated to affordable housing

Development Victoria is transforming the former Kangan TAFE site at 31 The Avenue, Coburg into a vibrant community close to jobs, transport, hospitals and schools.

Designed by Hayball Architects, we will deliver a four-building medium-density apartment complex with up to 275 dwellings, with 10% dedicated to affordable housing . One of the buildings will be dedicated to build-to-rent, supporting a variety of households and budgets.

The development will also include:

• up to 270 bike spaces and approximately 25 visitor bike spaces
• indoor and outdoor communal spaces
• a new park on The Avenue

An approx. 106sqm retail space at the corner of The Avenue and De Carle Street.

The eastern end of The Avenue will be converted into a public open space and incorporate the current vacant strip of land on the corner of The Avenue and De Carle Street. A consultation campaign ran from 28 July to 25 August with Merri-bek City Council. A draft concept plan will be made available to the community.

As part of the design, there will also be a communal open space available to residents of The Avenue.

There will be affordable housing in The Avenue, Coburg.

The Avenue, Coburg will deliver much needed homes, including a minimum outcome of 10 per cent affordable, supporting the objectives of the Victorian Government’s Housing Statement by providing more affordable homes close to existing jobs, transport and services.

It will also offer a mix of build to rent homes and homes for purchase, all of varying sizes to accommodate the diverse housing needs of the Coburg community.

There will not be social housing at The Avenue.

Build-to-rent (BTR) housing is purpose-built rental housing that is held in single ownership and professionally managed. The BTR model creates homes for the rental market instead of selling to individual buyers and provides Victorian renters with high-quality and well-maintained homes with secure leases.

Development Victoria is currently exploring options on future management of rental properties. This may involve managing the properties directly or working with a Registered Housing Agency.

Affordable housing is not social housing.

The definition of affordable housing is included in The Planning and Environment Act 1987 and specifies the income ranges for very low, low and moderate-income households for affordable housing that is not social housing. The income ranges specified in the Order can be found on the Department of Transport and Planning website.

Social housing is short and long-term rental housing that is owned and run by the government or not-for-profit agencies. Social housing is made up of two types of housing, public housing and community housing. It is for people on low incomes who need housing, especially those who have recently experienced homelessness, family violence or have other special needs.

The site was originally zoned as a Public Use Zone. Development Victoria received planning approval from the Department of Transport and Planning approved to rezone the site as a Mixed Use site in December 2024.

A precinct-wide heritage overlay applies to the site, which means planning approval is required for any demolition or construction work. The combined planning scheme amendment and planning permit includes approval for demolition and construction.

The approval of the planning proposal meant that there will be a variation to the car parking requirements of the Merri-bek City Council Planning Scheme. This will mean that there will be reduced parking based on the site’s excellent access to public transport, excess bicycle parking provisions and access to walking and cycling routes. While final car park numbers have not been resolved, it is proposed that not all apartments will have a dedicated parking space.

It is proposed that there will be up to 270 bike parking spaces  and 25 visitor bike spaces on site, which is above the requirements of the Merri-Bek Planning Scheme and aligned with the proposal to reduce car reliance for residents.

Vehicle access to the basement car park will be via Irrelach Lane on the western side of the complex, which will provide two-way entry and exit to the complex. The lane will also include a loading bay for resident’s use when moving in and out of the buildings and provision will be made in the basement carpark for smaller vehicle loading and rubbish collection.

Traffic analysis has indicated residents will generate approximately 500 extra car movements a day, which will have minimal impact on the surrounding road network. The proposal’s reduced car parking and excess bicycle parking provisions will help reduce traffic movements on the surrounding road network.

The parking spaces removed to create the new public open space on The Avenue will not be replaced.

Approximately 23 car spaces will be removed to make way for the new park. These car parks were added to service the students and staff of the former Kangan TAFE.

Ten unlimited parking bays, five 15-minute drop off parking bays and four two-hour parking bays will remain on The Avenue.

The proposed development includes buildings with a minimum 5-Star Green Star certification.

It is proposed that there will be up to 270 bike spaces and 25 visitor bike spaces on site, which is above the requirements of the Merri-bek City Council Planning Scheme and aligned with the planning proposal to reduce car reliance for residents.

Landscaping on site will promote urban biodiversity and reduce the heat island effect in urban areas as well as water tanks and rain gardens to facilitate the use of stormwater across the site.

There will be provisions for Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations.

Green Star is an internationally recognised rating system setting the standard for healthy, resilient, positive buildings and places. The ratings tool is built upon eight sustainability categories that can be incorporated into a building design to future proof a building for the future.

You can find out more about the Green Star program by visiting the Green Building Council Australia website.

An Environmental Management Plan (EMP) is a site management document that outlines how a contractor will:

• protect the environment and prevent pollution
• comply with Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) and environmental legal requirements, including Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines on dust control and air quality
• provide a safe work environment for all Delta Pty Ltd employees, contractors, consultants, their staff, visitors and the public.

As part of the Planning Scheme Amendment in 2024 https://engage.vic.gov.au/draft-merri-bek-planning-scheme-coburg, Hayball Architects conducted shadow studies to show how the proposed buildings will cast shadows at different times of the years.

These studies recreated the expected shadows cast by the development building at 9am, 10am, 11am and 12 noon during Winter Solstice (June), Equinox (September) and Summer Solstice (December).

The impacts are understandably greater during the Winter Solstice along De Carle Steet and The Avenue.

Starting with eight storeys on the western side of the site and gradually reducing to five storeys along De Carle Street, and between five and six storeys along The Avenue, the proposed tiered architectural design responds to the local neighbourhood.

Early works commenced mid August 2025. Construction works began in March 2026 and will continue until late 2027.

Significant existing street trees on De Carle Street and The Grove will be retained and new public open space will be created on The Avenue through the closure of the road and use of an  adjacent vacant land.  A small number of trees will be removed to enable the future development. However, landscaping with a greater number of new trees will be delivered, in central communal spaces and connecting walkways. Residents will also enjoy a rooftop terrace.

The site required some remediation to make it suitable for residential use. While the site has historically been used for residential and education purposes, surrounding land uses may have impacted the site.

The buildings on site were constructed using asbestos material which was typical of the time.

A qualified and licensed hygienist has tested the soil on site and identified the presence of asbestos. Our contractor, Delta Pty Ltd, is taking all necessary steps to minimise the impact of asbestos removal on the surrounding environment and prevent any exposure to asbestos fibres.

Development Victoria adheres to Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, implementing safety controls such as defining work areas, dust suppression and protective clothing for workers.

All asbestos removal was conducted by certified and highly trained professionals to guarantee safe handling and disposal. Our workers received comprehensive training in asbestos handling and safety protocols to ensure their protection and the protection of others.

In addition, the demolition contractor has an environmental management plan in place, which includes dust suppression measures to further minimise any potential impact.

The asbestos on site was Type B non-friable, meaning it is bound with materials like cement and posed low risk, as fibres are unlikely to become airborne

While air monitoring is not required as an Occupational Health and Safety process for Type B asbestos removal, Development Victoria and Delta have introduced this as an extra measure. No elevated levels have been detected onsite.

We adhered to Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, implementing safety controls such as defining work areas, protective clothing for workers and air monitoring.

Once removed, the asbestos was double-wrapped in heavy-duty plastic to avoid breakage, taped, labelled and placed on an EPA-permitted vehicle.

Soil and materials were tracked from extraction to safe disposal, and independent inspections were conducted during removal and post-removal.

Following removal, further testing and site validation was undertaken to verify the completed remediation works.

Several of these measures included air monitoring, independent inspections and post-completion validation.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets the guidelines for what constitutes unreasonable noise from a construction site including the times of day noise is allowed.

We have monitors in place and they will be used to ensure noise does not become unreasonable (either too loud or for too long a time period) in real time.

We will work with the contractor if the levels are detected to be unreasonable.

Current controls in place by the head contractor include:

• operating within permitted hours only and stopping work over lunch (12.15pm to 1.15pm)
• conducting daily noise monitoring
• safety processes to ensure machinery, tools, or equipment on the site are safe to operate, documented, and compliant with safety regulations
• working within the timber hoarding with a surface density of 12 kilograms per square metre – as recommended by an acoustic consultant.

Yes. We recognise the importance of communicating with parents of children at Kids on the Avenue.

Development Victoria provides regular progress updates to parents and continues to work with the manager and staff of the centre.

Both local laws and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines advise what hours construction work can be undertaken, which restrict weekend works.