Altona Approves 14-Storey Mixed-Use Tower Reshaping CBD's Western Edge

Altona City Council voted 7-2 on Thursday to approve a 14-storey mixed-use tower at 88 Harbour Street, a site that has sat vacant since the Meridian Hotel was demolished in 2019. The $340 million project, lodged by Greystone Capital Partners in February, will deliver 186 residential apartments, 2,400 square metres of ground-floor retail and a 220-space underground car park. Construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2027.

The timing matters. Altona's CBD vacancy rate for commercial floor space hit 11.3 percent in the second quarter of 2026, according to the Altona Property Council's mid-year monitor released last month, the highest recorded figure since 2009. At the same time, the city's median apartment price climbed to $618,000 in June, up 9.4 percent year-on-year, squeezing renters and first-home buyers who have found increasingly little stock within walking distance of the train interchange at Civic Plaza. A development of this scale directly addresses both problems simultaneously, at least in theory.

What's Going In, and Where

Harbour Street runs along the CBD's western boundary, connecting the old Cannery Precinct to the north with the revamped Esplanade Market strip to the south. The 88 Harbour Street parcel covers roughly 1,800 square metres and is flanked by the Altona Municipal Library on one side and a surface car park operated by ParkRight Holdings on the other. Greystone's approved plans show the podium levels, floors one through four, dedicated to retail and a boutique wellness centre, with the residential floors stacked above. Thirty-seven of the 186 apartments are classified as affordable housing units under the council's Integrated Housing Contribution Scheme, a local planning policy introduced in 2023 that requires developments above 10 storeys to allocate at least 20 percent of dwellings at capped rents.

The Cannery Precinct connection is deliberate. Council officers noted in their assessment report that foot traffic along Harbour Street declined 28 percent between 2020 and 2025, largely because the Meridian Hotel's demolition created what planners call a dead frontage, a blank, inactive streetscape that pedestrians avoid. The approved design requires Greystone to deliver activated shopfronts spanning the full 32-metre Harbour Street frontage, a condition attached after submissions from the Altona Traders Association during the public exhibition period in April.

Dissenting Voices and What Comes Next

The two dissenting councillors raised concerns about overshadowing of Riverside Park, a 1.2-hectare green space directly to the west that hosts the Saturday morning Altona Farmers' Market. Independent shadow modelling commissioned by the Riverside Residents Group found the tower would shade approximately 40 percent of the park between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. during winter months. Greystone has agreed to fund a $2.1 million canopy and seating upgrade at Riverside Park as part of its development contribution, though critics say that does not solve the light loss issue.

Heritage advocates also flagged the proximity to the 1887 Harbour Street Grain Store, a Category B heritage building sitting 11 metres north of the development boundary. The council's heritage advisory panel signed off on Greystone's revised facade treatment in May after the developer agreed to use a buff-coloured concrete cladding intended to reference the Grain Store's sandstock brick.

Greystone Capital Partners must now finalise a Construction Management Plan with the City Works directorate before permits are issued, a process that typically takes three to four months under Altona's current planning framework. The company has indicated it expects to lodge that plan by October, putting a formal groundbreaking sometime in February or March 2027. Apartment pre-sales are expected to open to the public in late September, with indicative pricing for one-bedroom units starting around $520,000. Buyers already on Greystone's expression-of-interest list, which opened quietly in May, number more than 400 according to the developer's planning agent, Fitzalan Property Advisory.

For residents living near Harbour Street, the practical reality is that construction noise and traffic disruption will arrive regardless of the broader debate. Anyone with property or a business within 200 metres of the site should check the council website, altona.gov/developmentnotices, for the Construction Management Plan once it is lodged, as it will specify haulage routes, work hours and dust management protocols. Public comment on that plan will be open for 21 days after lodgement.

This article is general information only and is not personal financial or investment advice. Consider your own circumstances and seek licensed professional advice before making financial decisions.