The multicultural suburb of Dandenong in Melbourne’s south-east is set for major urban renewal, with $600 million to be spent on transforming the area around Dandenong Station into a “vibrant and integrated mixed-use precinct.”
The Victorian government announced in late 2020 that Melbourne developer Capital Alliance had won exclusive development right to deliver the Revitalising Central Dandenong project. Architecture firm DKO has prepared the masterplan for the two-hectare site, which includes the provision of a minimum of 500 dwellings, along with a new Little India.
The first stage of the project will be the development of the new “Little India” precinct to minimize disruptions to the existing traders and maintain the cultural identity of what is Melbourne’s oldest hub of Indian culture and commerce.
The project will also deliver new community space, commercial offices, a hotel and conference centre, an urban brewery entertainment district, an educational training facility, retail tenancies, a cinema and a new dining precinct.
Revitalising Central Dandenong masterplan by DKO.
Capital Alliance says the project will act as future city hub for the region.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to further urbanize and give central Dandenong the investment it needs to cement its status as the capital of the south eastern corridor of Melbourne”, said the company’s chief executive, Mohan Du.
“We envisage the project at completion will add $1.5 billion in value to central Dandenong, drastically improving the urban experience and overall prosperity for Dandenong.”
The Revitalising Central Dandenong project was first initiated by the state government in 2006. In 2014, RMIT’s director of International Urban and Environmental Management, Beau Beza, described the reasoning behind the urban renewal program in Landscape Architecture Australia.
“Firstly, Dandenong has experienced socio-economic decline/stagnation – high unemployment, slow population growth, and low incomes compared to metropolitan Melbourne,” he wrote. “Secondly, the area has suffered from a diminishing appeal, which is a result of poor urban planning, ‘inefficient urban design and structural economic challenges.’ Thirdly, it was recognized that a long-term term approach created through a range of partnerships was needed to tackle these challenges.”
Capital Alliance will be delivering the project alongside Development Victoria.
“This will be an absolute game-changer for the Dandenong region,” said Development Victoria CEO Angela Skandarajah. “We look forward to working closely with Capital Alliance to ensure the vision is fully realised and that this strategic site adjacent to the Dandenong transport hub is transformed into a vibrant and thriving economic precinct.”
Construction is scheduled to begin “no later than 2023.”
