Millbrook Flats: The Overlooked Thomastown Suburb That Rezoning Could Transform Overnight

Millbrook Flats has spent the better part of two decades as Thomastown's forgotten quarter, a patchwork of low-slung warehouses, ageing duplexes and vacant lots wedged between the Grenvale Rail Corridor and the southern edge of Pembrook Park. That could change as early as September, when the Thomastown City Council's Planning and Development Committee is scheduled to vote on a rezoning proposal that would reclassify large sections of the suburb from Light Industrial 2B to Mixed-Use Residential.

The proposal, formally listed as Amendment TCC-2026-114 on the council's public register, has been in consultation since March. If approved, it would allow residential towers of up to twelve storeys on parcels along Dunstan Road and permit ground-floor retail conversion throughout the Albion Street precinct. For a suburb that has seen almost no new residential development since the Kellerman Court townhouse project completed in 2019, the shift would be dramatic.

Why Millbrook Flats, Why Now

The timing is not accidental. Thomastown's overall vacancy rate for rental housing has tightened considerably over the past eighteen months, and the areas closest to the central business district, particularly Grenvale West and North Pembrook, have absorbed most of the recent apartment supply. Millbrook Flats sits roughly 3.4 kilometres from Thomastown Central Station, a commute distance that has historically kept prices soft but is now attractive to buyers priced out of closer suburbs.

Median house prices in Millbrook Flats currently sit around $610,000, according to figures from the Thomastown Property Institute's June 2026 quarterly report, roughly $180,000 below the city-wide median for comparable lot sizes. That gap has been widening for years, largely because industrial zoning has suppressed buyer appetite. The rezoning, if passed, would almost certainly compress that differential quickly.

The Thomastown Urban Renewal Authority, which administers the council's broader 2024-2034 Housing Activation Plan, has already signalled that Millbrook Flats is a priority corridor. Under that plan, the authority is tasked with facilitating 4,200 new dwellings across underutilised precincts before the end of the decade. Millbrook Flats, with its relatively flat topography and existing connections to the Grenvale Rail Corridor, has been identified internally as one of the more shovel-ready locations.

On the Ground: What Buyers Are Actually Seeing

Walk along Dunstan Road on a weekday morning and the industrial character is obvious, panel beaters, a cold storage facility, a clutch of logistics yards. But several of those sites have already changed hands in the past six months. At least three parcels between the Albion Street intersection and the old Millbrook Flour Mill site were acquired by registered property trusts in early 2026, according to title transfer records on the Thomastown Land Registry. None of those trusts have lodged development applications yet, a holding pattern consistent with waiting for the rezoning outcome.

The Flour Mill itself, a three-storey brick building at 44 Dunstan Road, heritage-listed under Thomastown's Category B register, has become something of a bellwether. It has been earmarked for adaptive reuse as part of the broader precinct vision, with early planning documents suggesting a mixed hospitality and residential conversion. Heritage Category B status means demolition is restricted but sympathetic development is permitted, giving developers a framework to work within rather than a hard stop.

Pembrook Park's southern boundary, which abuts Millbrook Flats along Keswick Lane, adds genuine amenity to the equation. The park's 14-hectare reserve includes the recently upgraded Keswick Oval, the Thomastown Community Garden cooperative, and a dedicated cycling path that connects to the broader Grenvale Trail network. These are the kinds of assets that planners and buyers alike factor in when assessing a suburb's liveability ceiling.

For buyers or investors considering a position in Millbrook Flats before September, the practical calculus is straightforward: the rezoning vote is public, the amendment documents are downloadable from the council's planning portal, and the submission period for community feedback closes on July 25. Reading those documents, particularly the traffic impact assessment and the infrastructure servicing schedule, will tell you more about the suburb's realistic development timeline than any agent will. The risk is real; rezoning proposals do get delayed or amended. But the information is available, and the window, for once, is open.

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.