Well, it's a qualified yes, but in the case of the controversial and recently approved plans to build a 38 storey residential tower with a retail podium and 6 storey office building on the corner of Toorak Road and Chapel Street in South Yarra, in the heart of a major inner urban activity centre and at the nexus of multiple public transport options and a range of excellent amenities, I am all for it.
This site badly needs a high impact, snazzy high-rise development to form an appropriate gateway to the busy shopping and entertainment strip of Chapel Street. The renderings for the new building look great. I think the high-profile corner facade of retail podium would make perfect premises for H&M's first Australian store (hint hint to H&M!)
I think it's a shame that the council opposed this development, because it ticks all the boxes for a perfect location for high-density housing and it will upgrade what is a lacklustre corner of prime real estate. It will have minimal amenity impact on surrounding residential and commercial premises. It's amazing how so many people are still opposed to sensitive and smart high density design like this on the one hand (ie when it's in their backyard), but on the other we can have so many (of perhaps the same) people vehemently opposed to expanding the urban growth boundary and instead advocating for just this type of medium to high density infill development in strategic locations well-served by transport and amenities. I think expanding the growth boundary for more low density sprawl on the periphery is a major mistake and future planning catastrophe; but not expanding the boundary must mean more development such as this proposed Capitol Towers in South Yarra - so long as that development is sensitive to existing character, heritage and amenity, which this development is. We need a series of well-planned, predominantly high-rise (but with a mix of building types including terraced housing), high-density nodes around the city: South Yarra is an obvious one; others cite Box Hill, Frankston, maybe Footscray as other options. I'd also say West Melbourne and the area immediately north of Docklands needs to be examined. It's the obvious solution, and developments like this one and other high-rises planned around South Yarra are a good start towards it. It's a shame the local council takes an opposing view, rather than working with the reality and seeking to exert some positive influence over future projects.
