Melbourne Docklands
Development Feasibility
Melbourne Docklands is one of Australia’s largest urban renewal projects comprising over 200ha of land and water. The project has transformed Melbourne’s riverfront and former dock area, which became redundant following the construction of the Charles Grimes Bridge in 1975.
During 2000 and 2001, as consultants to Jones Lang LaSalle, HillPDA provided feasibility advice to VicUrban – the agency leading on the design and realisation of the project.
As a public project, the key challenge was to find a way to harness private investment to fund major infrastructure. For such a large-scale project, HillPDA’s first move was to undertake financial modelling to test the viability for numerous precincts, identifying where value could be derived and how the project could be staged.
HillPDA’s work helped VicUrban manage the risk of a negative cash flow and identified the areas of land that should be sold at an early stage to fund infrastructure. HillPDA then provided detailed financial modelling for individual sites as required.
Upon completion, Melbourne Docklands will be home to more than of 17,000 people, be a workplace generating over 40,000 jobs and a tourist destination for approximately 20 million people each year.
Summary of Services: Urban Renewal, Development Feasibility, Development Staging