New development plan to convert 75 apartments into affordable housing
MELBOURNE: A major housing development in Adelaide’s inner-south has been revised to exclusively feature affordable housing as unit sizes shrink.
EV Park Developments has lodged new plans to Unley Council outlining a different vision for its previously approved project at Norman Terrace and Fourth Ave in Everard Park.
Under the new plans, developers would instead build 75 affordable homes across a five-storey building.
Previously, only 12 apartments – 13 per cent of the building – were allocated to affordable housing.
Meanwhile, all of the larger three-bedroom apartments were axed.
This new plan increased the number of affordable homes to 83 per cent across the whole site, including the 16 terrace townhouses.
The apartment complex now features only a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom dwellings – each with its own private balconies.
The plan also scrapped the ground-floor residential units and basement car park that had 57 spaces, on top of another 34 spaces on the ground level.
Instead, developers wanted to make room for the revised ground-level parking layout – which now features 52 spaces – and other features including bicycle parking and a central mailbox area near the main life.
In response to concerns raised by local residents during the first application, vehicle access to the building has been merged to Norman Tce to avoid traffic spilling and congesting nearby smaller streets such as Ross St.
The building’s proximity to Norman Tce and Fourth Ave was increased to better align with the neighbourhood but there were no changes made to the building height.
Other updated design amendments include tweaks to water storage, landscaping, bicycle facilities and visitor parking.
According to planning documents, the developers wanted to take advantage of the site’s location near public transport and open space while aligning the project with funding through the Housing Australia Future Fund.
The whole site sits opposite the Black Forest tram stop and close to bike links, making it an attractive location for higher-density housing occupied by residents who don’t have to depend on a car.
The land for the proposed project was previously owned by Lifecare but was recently sold.