Luxury hotel and apartment building gets green light for Southbank

By Brendan Rees

A 20-storey tower to house lavish residences and a restaurant will be built in Southbank after winning state government approval.

Property developer BEKL has been given the green light to build the tower, Vivere on Dorcas at 10-16 Dorcas St, boasting stunning views over the bay and across the Botanic Gardens.

The project is for 36 residences, made up of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, which will sit atop a 171-room voco hotel, an upscale hotel brand operated by internationally renowned InterContinental Hotels Group (HIG).

The design by Plus Architecture will feature hotel services for residents including a concierge and housekeeping, along with access to the hotel’s lobby-level bar and restaurant and gym.

Construction is expected to start in late 2022 with completion scheduled for January 2025. However, BEKL did not wish to disclose the total cost of the project.

BEKL manager director Katherine Liu said she was thrilled to introduce the “rare lifestyle opportunity” to the area, adding the development would be one her team would be “be happy to utilise and extremely proud to live in ourselves”.

Having previously lived in an apartment above the Westin Melbourne hotel, Ms Liu said the experience was “fantastic” and felt “very safe and secure” knowing the lobby and entrance door was monitored by security.

“The concierge team made living a breeze, from collecting parcels to providing suggestions for new happenings in Melbourne and it’s these comforting details that we are excited to offer to residents,” she said.

She said access to housekeeping meant “we could ask for on-demand home cleaning services, along with dry cleaning and more”.

Under the plans, the tower would also have a co-working space called Curago, a platform recently launched by BEKL aimed at “enriching the ‘work from home’ experience,” with a photography studio, meditation chamber and more.

According to BEKL, Curago will offer residents a “thriving and productive community space where authentic connections can be made, minus the commute”.

The tower will be within walking distance of the Arts Precinct and “celebrate” South Melbourne by connecting residents to the community, local businesses, and the natural landscape.

Prices for the apartments range from $490,000 to $2.35 million.

The City of Melbourne ticked off the plans in February 2021 before the Minister for Planning Richard Wynne gave the final approval for the tower on October 28 •

Artist impressions of the Vivere on Dorcas mixed-use development in Southbank.