The company redeveloping the GTV9 studio site at 22 Bendigo Street, Richmond, is seeking community consultation over plans to convert the 102-year-old building into an eight-storey apartment block.
Vivas Lend Lease, which bought the building for an estimated $50 million earlier this year, is planning to build 550 apartments plus low-rise townhouses on the three hectare site.
The external facade of the original building is heritage protected but additional extensions added in recent decades are not – but Vivas Lend Lease says it “will work to capture the history of the site through sensitive and appropriate interpretive methods. This could be by way of an interpretive trail, street naming or interactive media.”
Hey Hey It’s Saturday producer and host Daryl Somers recently suggested that part of the site should be converted into a TV museum to pay tribute to the many programs and personalities that have entertained Australians from the iconic studios.
But not everyone is pleased with the proposed redevelopment. Cr Stephen Jolly is one who believes local “residents are already majorly p—– off” with the over-development of Richmond:
“I’m not against development, but this is unchecked development. What about the infrastructure? Developers are just seeing dollars, dollars, dollars, and trying to squeeze as many people in as they can.”
Vivas Lend Lease has established a website to make available its ‘Master Plan’ for the site and to seek community feedback and progress reports on the redevelopment.
Feedback will be reported to the City of Yarra when Vivas Lend Lease presents its draft Development Plan in September.
GTV9 plans to vacate the premises and move to new facilities in the Docklands precinct early next year.
Source: Herald Sun, Vivas Lend Lease