New Apartment Tower Approved for Templestowe: What It Means for the Local Market

Templestowe's planning landscape shifted this week after councillors at the Manningham City Council meeting on July 3 signed off on a 12-storey mixed-use apartment tower at 44 Porter Street, a site that until recently housed a single-storey automotive workshop. The approval, granted under the council's existing residential growth zone provisions, marks the tallest structure yet approved within the suburb's established low-rise belt.

The timing is not accidental. Victoria's Housing Statement, which designated Templestowe as a priority growth corridor under the 2023 rezoning package, has been pushing density outward from the Westfield Doncaster precinct along the Doncaster Road spine for the better part of three years. Porter Street sits roughly 400 metres east of the Templestowe Village shopping strip, close enough to draw future residents into local retail, far enough that long-term homeowners on Serpells Road and Foote Street are watching with undisguised anxiety.

What the Development Actually Contains

The approved plans lodge 87 apartments across the 12 floors, a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom configurations, alongside ground-floor retail tenancies and 94 basement car spaces. The developer, Vantage Urban Projects, listed a construction start of Q1 2027 in planning documents submitted to Manningham council. Completion is projected for late 2028. No presales pricing has been publicly released by the developer at the time of writing, though comparable two-bedroom stock in the Doncaster Hill precinct has been trading between $680,000 and $790,000 through the first half of 2026, according to listings data on realestate.com.au.

The Templestowe Village traders' association, whose members operate along the strip between Church Road and Macedon Street, held an informal briefing with council officers in late June. No formal submission opposing the development was lodged by the association, though individual business owners raised concerns at the May 22 preliminary hearing about construction traffic impacting access to the Village car park off Foote Street. Council officers noted those concerns in the planning report but did not recommend conditions specifically addressing them.

What It Means for Buyers, Renters and Existing Owners

Property analysts tracking Manningham LGA have been pointing to a persistent undersupply of sub-$800,000 stock in Templestowe proper, distinct from the Doncaster Hill apartment towers built under the earlier Structure Plan, for several years. The Porter Street project would add 87 dwellings to a suburb where detached house stock routinely lists above $1.4 million, effectively creating a new entry-price band for buyers priced out of nearby Balwyn North and Kew.

For existing homeowners, the calculation is more complicated. Blocks within 300 metres of approved high-density sites have historically experienced short-term price softness during construction, followed by uplift once the amenity dividend, more cafes, foot traffic, public realm upgrades, materialises. How quickly that cycle plays out on Porter Street will depend heavily on whether council follows through on its commitment, flagged in the Manningham Urban Design Framework 2024, to widen the footpath connection between the tower site and the Village strip.

Renters face a different equation. Templestowe has historically offered very limited apartment rental stock, pushing tenants toward Doncaster or Bulleen. The 87-unit addition, when it eventually hits the rental market in 2028 or 2029, could meaningfully expand options, though whether rents land at accessible levels will depend on how many investors enter the presales process versus owner-occupiers.

For anyone weighing a purchase decision in the area right now, the practical advice from the planning record is straightforward: read the Manningham Planning Scheme Amendment C160, which underpins this approval, because it identifies four additional sites along the Porter Street and Foote Street corridor flagged for similar treatment. What was approved Thursday may be the first of several such towers rather than a one-off. Council's next planning committee meeting is scheduled for August 6, where two further planning permit applications in the immediate precinct are listed for consideration.

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.