Old city 'gate' to be new again

An artist's impression of the Flinders Gate development looking from Federation Square.

A $150 MILLION project by Dexus Property Group in Flinders Street will restore a 100-year-old heritage building and add A-grade office space to the central business district.

The Flinders Gate development, directly opposite Federation Square, involves construction of a new 11-level office building over an existing car park with the addition of an internal landscaped atrium.

The new building at 172 Flinders will feature 20,000 square metres of A-grade office space with large campus style floor plates of about 2200 sq m. The building's heritage facade - the front of the old Ball & Welch building - will also be complemented by a new glass curtain wall.

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Specifically, the development will include the addition of eight new levels of office space with the 400 sq m atrium at the centre of the building. Under the design, half of the car park will be removed to provide the space for new office floors within the height limits of the site.

SJB Architects and Woods Bagot are the joint architects for the project. Dexus has secured development approval for the project from Melbourne City Council.

The project is targeting a five-star National Australian Built Environment Rating System Energy rating and five-star Green Star rating.

Head of development at Dexus Tony Gulliver said the developer was driven by the opportunity to use such a large site and would devote the rest of this year to seeking pre-commitments. JLL and Colliers have been appointed leasing agents.

''We aim to start construction in the middle of next year and complete it in the first half of 2015,'' Mr Gulliver told BusinessDay.

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Old city 'gate' to be new again