Australia 108 goes on sale locally

The wait for local buyers on the hunt for a slice of what will be Melbourne’s tallest building is over, with Australia 108 apartments now on the market.

Singaporean developer World Class Land, a subsidiary of Aspial, put Australia 108’s 1105 luxury apartments up for sale at the start of February, with price tags ranging between $520,000 and $25 million.

However, after sales began internationally in November not all properties are available on the local market, with more than 300 apartments having already been snapped up by a mix of Singaporean and foreign buyers.

At 319-metres and 100 habitable levels, the $1 billion Australia 108 will become the southern hemisphere’s tallest residential building when completed in 2019.

CBRE managing director Andrew Leoncelli said expressions of interest from potential buyers leading up to launch indicated that apartments at the 70 Southbank Boulevard address would sell quickly.

“We believe we will sell and sell very quickly,” he said. “It’s hard to predict how long, but they will sell fast!”

Former Liberal planning minister Matthew Guy approved a revamped design of Australia 108 in June last year, after the original design was found to be intruding into Essendon airport airspace.

While the building was referred to in some reports last year as “the building formerly known as Australia 108” because it no longer possessed 108 levels, Mr Leoncelli quashed any speculation of a name change.

“It will absolutely still be called Australia 108,” he said. “It’s a household name now – it’s hard to get that level of market recognition with any other name.”

Designed by Fender Katsalidis Architects, Australia 108 is broken into two distinct sections, with sky-rise apartments between level 11 and 68 ranging from $520,000 through to $900,000.

The “starburst” sections on levels 70 and 71 will feature 3000 sqm of communal space, which will include Australia’s two highest swimming pools.

From level 72, three-bedroom apartments start at $1.6 million, while the cheapest penthouse is expected to fetch upwards of $11 million.

The 100th level penthouse will be one of Melbourne’s most expensive homes and is expected to sell for between $20 million and $25 million.

Aspial CEO Koh See Wung said Australia 108 would offer an unparalleled level of luxury to its residents.

“Australia 108 will go where no development has gone before,” he said. “The closer you get to heaven in Australia 108, the more spectacular the living environment – and not just for the views.”

“This is a project we believe is truly cloud-breaking in its luxury, design and amenity.”

Construction of Australia 108 is estimated to be in excess of $250 million over four and a half years and will employee nearly 3000 workers.

Construction is set to commence in mid-2015 and will be completed in three stages.