398 & 400 Johnston Street, Abbotsford

PRELIMINARY FEASIBLITY
REPORT

Property Development Analysis

& Feasibility - Assignment 1
Prepared by Tam Tran

S3951563@student.rmit.edu.au
01. Executive Summary

1.1 Subject Matter:

This preliminary feasibility report aims to cover a site analysis and outline the planning
considerations relating to a proposed 7 storey mixed use development (residential, office &
retail) on 398 and 400 Johnston St, Abbotsford (Site).

1.2 Methods of Analysis:

The analysis was undertaken through a combination of desktop studies and a site visit
undertaken on the 27/3/24 (Site Visit). All material referenced in this report is dated as at the
date of the Site Visit.

1.3 Conclusions & Recommendations:

The Site presents a viable re-development opportunity with site characteristics favoring the
delivery of the proposed 7 storey mixed use development.

Along Johnston Street there are existing developments and developments currently in delivery
that serve as comparable sales evidence for mid-rise developments within the vicinity. The Site
is located in a prominent inner-city location and surrounded by amenities such as the Yarra
River, Victoria Park Oval, and key public transport routes.

From a planning perspective, the Site’s will be able to support a residential land use, as
specified by the amendment C220yarra gazetted on 18 June 2020 (Amendment). However, it
is noted that the Site is subject to various planning constraints that will likely be enforced
through the Planning Permit.

It is recommended that:
1. Further due dilligence be undertaken in the form of a finacial feasiblity to determine the
financial viablity of delivering the project.
2. A traffic consultant be engaged to address vehicular and traffic impacts surrounding the
Site. This is specifically of importance if vehicular ingress and egress is desired from
Johnston Street (due to its status as a key arterial road).
3. Further due diligence relating to environmental and site contamination be undertaken to
determine if there are any impacts relating to the historic land uses.
4. Further due diligence be undertaken relating to any encumbrances or interested
registered on title.
02. Site Analysis:

2.1 Site Description:

The Site is a rectangular shaped parcel of land comprised of 3 separate lots 13, 14 & 15 Block
C on Plan of Subdivision LP285 (refer to Appendix A). The Site is south facing with frontage off
Johnston Street and rear access from Little Turner Street. As at the date of the Site Visit, the
Site has been partly cleared of any improvements and only consists of the foundational slabs of
the former structures previously located on 398 and 400 Johnston Street and various temporary
site shed structures (Refer to Appendix B – Image 1).

2.2 Site Dimensions:

Site Area: 1251.5m²

Site Width: 30.18m

Site Depth: 40.23m

Note measurements have been

calculated the title plans. (Refer to
Figure 1 & Appendix A).

Figure 1: Site Dimensions *measured from title plans

2.3 Topography:
The Site exhibits is located on a relatively flat surface at approximately 20m AHD (refer to
Figure 2). As at the date of inspection, the Site exhibits two distinct levels relating to the top
surfaces of the slabs from the former buildings situated on 398 and 400 Johnston St (refer to
Appendix B - Image 2).

Within an approximately 2km radius, the Site is situated within a flat plateau between two
significant topological features; the “Collingwood slope” (located east of Smith Street) and the
escarpment edge to the Yarra River (refer to Figure 3). The two topological features exhibit a
declining gradient in an easternly direction, eventually reaching 0m AHD (water level) at the
Yarra River.

No noticeable gradients or falls observed upon the Site Visit. An additional detailed survey
would be required to determine the extent of the levels on the Site.
 Subject
Site

Figure 2: Land and Survey Spatial Information - Australian Height Datum (AHD)
 Figure 3: Surrounding Topological Context

2.4 Site Access:

2.4.1 Pedestrian Access:

The primary pedestrian and building user access into the Site can is achieved via Johnston
Street. It is noted that the postal address for the Site is currently designated as off Johnston
Street. Secondary access can be achieved via the rear on Little Turner Street. (It is noted that
the site is currently enclosed with temporary fencing, as such no access into the site can be
achieved by the public).

2.4.2 Vehicular Access:

Currently, primary vehicular access into the Site is located off Johnston Street (Refer to
Appendix B – Image 3), which is a designated as an arterial road by the Department of
Transport Planning (Refer Figure 4).

The existing vehicular crossover into the Site on Johnston Street is located on the 400 Johnston
Street land parcel. There was previously no vehicular crossover from 398 Johnston Street to
Johnston Street, with primary vehicular access to this address achieved via rear laneway
access off Little Turner Street. The secondary vehicular access into the Site is located off Little
Turner Street (Refer to Appendix B – Image 4), which is designated as a public road on the
City of Yarra Register of Public Roads (refer to Appendix C).

Johnston Street is a relatively busy street consisting of three lanes of traffic and 2 lanes of timed
parking that also serve as clearways during key peak hour intervals. The middle traffic lane is
bidirectional, with the movement of traffic alternating based on the time of the day.

For the purposes of a residential or mixed-use development, it is highly recommended that

primary vehicular access into the Site occur via the rear access laneway to mitigate any
pedestrian movements and traffic impacts along Johnston Street. Further assessment from a
traffic engineer would is required.

Figure 4: Map of DTP managed roads

2.5 Hazardous materials:

2.5.1 Environmental Audit Overlay:

The Site is currently subject to an Environmental Audit Overlay (EAO) which was applied as part
of the Amendment. To date, no environment audits have been published to the EPA relating to
the Site. The EAO was recommended by the Planning Panel as part of the Yarra Planning
Scheme Amendment C220 Johnston Street Built Form Controls report to consider
environmental impacts and land contamination resulting from historical land use within the
Commercial 2 Zoning. The appropriate environmental audits will be required in the future to
satisfy the planning obligations.

2.5.2 Hazardous Materials (Historical Structures):

As at the date of inspection, the Site has been cleared with only the foundations for 398 and 400
Johnston Street remaining. Historical site imagery between November 2023 to February 2024
(refer to Appendix B – Image 5 & 6) indicate the potential presence hazardous materials on the
Site associated with the historical structures. It is likely that asbestos containing materials were
present within the former structures located on the Site, as is commonly found in mid 20 th
century warehousing and industrial properties. It is assumed that any hazardous materials
associated with the former structures located on the Site have been removed and any potential
impacts to the underlying land mitigated.

2.5.3 Hazardous Materials (Historical Land Use):

As identified in the Yarra Planning Scheme, the historical C2Z encourages commercial areas for
“offices, appropriate manufacturing and industries, bulky goods retailing, other retail uses, and
associated business and commercial services.” Opposed to residential land use, the land uses
supported by the C2Z relate to commercial and industrial business activities, which as part of
their operational activities, can result in residual contamination or waste run off onto the land.

The Site has been previously used for a multitude of automotive related business in the past
which may result in a high likelihood of waste run off impacting the site. In July 2019, 400
Johnston Street was occupied by Signature Cars, a luxury hand car wash company (Refer to
Appendix B – Image 7). Prior to this, the Site also was occupied by several car dealerships
and service centers including Suzuki Yarra, Hyundai Yarra (and the corresponding service
center), and Yarra Honda (and the corresponding service center) (Refer to Appendix B –
Image 8 & 9). Due to historical land use being heavily associated with the automotive industry,
it is imperative that further assessment relating to the contamination and environmental status of
the Site be undertaken.

2.6 Existing Site Improvements:

As at the date of inspection, the Site has been partly cleared of any historical improvements and
only consists of the foundational slabs of the former structures previously located on 398 and
400 Johnston Street. There are various temporary site-shed structures currently located on the
Site.

2.7 Zoning:
The Site is currently zoned as Commercial 1 Zone (refer to Figure 5), which stipulates a variety
of permissible land uses including but not limited to commercial, retail, entertainment,
community, and residential land use.
The site is also subject to the following overlays:
 Development Contributions Plan Overlay – Schedule 1 (DCPO1)
 Design and Development Overlay – Schedule 15 (DDO15)
 Design and Development Overlay – Schedule 15-2B (DDO15-2B)
 Environmental Audit Overlay

The site adjoins a Neighborhood Residential 1 Zone to the north and a Transport Road Zone 2
(TRZ2) – Principal road network to the south. For additional details relating to the planning, refer
to the Planning Report in Appendix D.
 Subject
Site

Figure 5: Subject Site zoning & adjoining zoning

2.8 Caveats & Encumbrances:

The land relating to 389 and 400 Johnston Street is held under two separate titles across three
separate lots (refer to Appendix A). The following is an outline for the details on the two titles.

2.8.1 Lot 13 Block C on Plan of Subdivision 00285

The title is currently held in Fee Simple by the registered proprietor ZHIWEI HUANG
INVESTMENT PTY LTD of LEVEL 23 40 CITY ROAD SOUTHBANK VIC 3006.

A mortgage was registered on title by Payton Capital Ltd on 15/09/2023. Additionally, a

Statutory Charge was registered on title on 23/2/2024 and a Discharge Land Tax Charge was
registered on title 7/3/24.

As per TP471802T derived from Vol 5018 Fol 420, the parcel of land also contains a right of
carriageway along Little Turner Street denoted as “BR” (refer to Appendix A).

2.8.2 Lot 14 Block C on Plan of Subdivision 00285

The title is currently held in Fee Simple by the registered proprietor ZHIWEI HUANG
INVESTMENT PTY LTD of LEVEL 23 40 CITY ROAD SOUTHBANK VIC 3006.

A mortgage was registered on title by Payton Capital Ltd on 15/09/2023. Additionally, a

Statutory Charge was registered on title on 23/2/2024 and a Discharge Land Tax Charge was
registered on title 8/3/24.

As per TP471799D derived from Vol 3570 Fol 834, the parcel of land also contains a right of
carriageway along Little Turner Street denoted as “BR” (refer to Appendix A).
2.8.3 Lot 15 Block C on Plan of Subdivision 00285
The title is currently held in Fee Simple by the registered proprietor ZHIWEI HUANG
INVESTMENT PTY LTD of LEVEL 23 40 CITY ROAD SOUTHBANK VIC 3006.

A mortgage was registered on title by Payton Capital Ltd on 15/09/2023. Additionally, a

Statutory Charge was registered on title on 23/2/2024 and a Discharge Land Tax Charge was
registered on title 8/3/24.

As per TP471800X derived from Vol 3570 Fol 835, the parcel of land also contains a right of
carriageway along Little Turner Street denoted as “A” (refer to Appendix A).

2.9 Lease details:

As at the date of the Site Visit, the Site was not occupied, and it is assumed the site is
currently not tenanted.

3.0 Planning
3.1 General Planning Conditions:
As outlined in Johnston Street Local Area Plan Built Form Analysis and Recommendations
report prepared by the City of Yarra Council, the following conditions present themselves
consistently throughout the length of Johnston Street within the Amendment Land:

1. A road reserve width of approximately 20m

2. Continuous (boundary-to-boundary) built form, with a zero-front setback
3. Relatively low built form scale relative to the street width, resulting in a sense of openness and
generous sky views, but also a sense that the street is dominated by traffic (reinforced by
gantries supporting traffic lane direction signs)
4. Relatively old and ‘tired’ buildings
5. Predominantly masonry buildings, including a mix of painted and unpainted brick, and render
6. Heritage facades featuring a fine-grain rhythm, narrow/ vertically proportioned, ‘punched’ window
openings, and decorative
7. parapets and cornices
8. Highly active ground floor frontages
9. Inconsistent weather protection over footpaths
3.2 General Planning Character Areas:
As outlined in Johnston Street Local Area Plan Built Form Analysis and Recommendations
report prepared by the City of Yarra Council, the Amendment land can be divided into six
distinct character areas, distinguishing primarily by zoning, heritage values, slope, and adjoining
zoning (refer to Figure 6):

Figure 6: Johnston Street Local Area Plan Built Form Analysis and Recommendations – Character Map

The six-character areas and a description of the corresponding built form is outlined in
Table 1.

3.3 Minimum upper-level front setback

As outlined in Johnston Street Local Area Plan Built Form Analysis and
Recommendations report prepared by the City of Yarra Council, author Mark Sheppard
specifies that the minimum 6m front set back is not appropriate for properties that are of
“mixed streetscapes” within precinct 1 of the Amendment.

Mr Sheppard stipulates, “I do not consider that these ‘mixed’ streetscapes contain any
of the ‘exceptional circumstances’ listed in PPN60, or that the mandatory nature of the
proposed minimum upper-level setback requirement in these areas is justified by the
strategic work (which focuses on the form of the upper levels) and absolutely necessary
to achieve the preferred built form outcomes”.

In lieu of this information, it was recommended that the minimum upper-level front
setback be changed to a discretionary 5m requirement.
Zone Character Built From Description Emerging built form character Images
Area
A Johnston Street Predominantly 2-storey buildings, with the Recent examples of higher-level built form
between Smith exception of larger recently delivered mixed use emerging with the delivery of a 9-storey
Street and residential developments located at 2, 64 and predominantly residential building at 23-33
Wellington 22-23 Johnston Street. Johnston St, 4-storey office building at 64
Street Johnston St and 6-storey development at 2
‘Patchy’ mix of heritage and ‘functional’ modern Johnston St.
buildings on north side, with varied front
setbacks Relatively consistent heritage buildings
on south side Figure 7: Character area A site imagery

B Johnston Street Predominantly 2-storey buildings Patchy mix of Approved 9-storey predominantly office building
between heritage and ‘functional’ modern buildings on at 80-90 Johnston St & 59 Sackville St Recent 4-
Wellington north side Relatively consistent heritage storey predominantly residential building at 105-
Street and buildings on south side. 107 Johnston St Approved 4-storey
Hoddle Street predominantly residential building at 145
Johnston St Recent 3-storey predominantly
residential building at 183 Johnston St Approved
5-storey building at 203 & 205 Johnston St.
Figure 8: Character area B street view

C Johnston Street Predominantly 2-storey buildings Relatively Not applicable – refer to current built form
between Hoddle consistent heritage buildings description
Street and the
rail bridge

Figure 9: Character area C site imagery

D Johnston Street Predominantly 1-2 storey buildings Patchy mix of
between the rail low-quality older buildings and ‘functional’
bridge and modern buildings Predominantly zero front
Nicholson Street setback. There are several examples of recently
delivered and in construction multi-level mix used
residential developments within this area.
Approved 8-storey predominantly residential
building at 288 Johnston St. There are currently
several mixed-use developments currently in
delivery within this area towards Nicholson St.

Delivered 8-storey predominantly residential

building at 316-322 Johnston St. 7-storey
Figure 10: Character area D site imagery
predominantly residential building at 344
Johnston & 12-storey predominantly residential
building at 247-259 Johnston St.
E Johnston Street Predominantly 1-2 storey buildings Patchy mix of Recent 6-storey predominantly residential
between ‘functional’ modern buildings Predominantly zero apartment building at 370 Johnston St Approved
Nicholson Street front setback 7-storey predominantly serviced apartment
and Trenerry building at 329 Johnston St NB: 5-storey office
Crescent/ building just beyond Amendment area at 444
Clarke Street Johnston St

Figure 11: Character area E site imagery

F Sackville Street Predominantly single storey buildings Varied Approved 9-storey predominantly office building
front setbacks Low-grade light industrial at 80-90 Johnston St & 59 Sackville St
buildings

Figure 12: Character area F site imagery

Table 1: Character Area Assessment & Built Form Descriptions

Appendix A: Certificate of Title & Title Plans
[Refer to PDF attachment]
 Appendix B: Site Visit Images

Image 1: View of Site from 398 Johnston St - North Facing Image 2: Varying slab levels of 398 & 400 Johnston Street

Image 3: Primary Vehicular Entrance off Johnston S Image 4: Secondary Vehicular entrance off Little Turner St (398
Johnston St parcel)

Image 5: Site Image (removal of roof) Image 6: Site Image (Roof structure – prior to removal)
Image 7: Historical site usage – Luxury car wash Image 8: Historical site usage – Hyundai dealership

Image 9: Historical site usage – Honda dealership

Appendix C: City of Yarra Register of Public
Roads
[Refer to PDF attachment]
Appendix D: 398 & 400 Johnston Street Planning
Reports
[Refer to PDF attachment]