DM Property Plots Townhouse Precinct for Carved-Off Site

Surplus land on a seniors living development site has been earmarked for a residential project in Melbourne’s south-east.

DM Property has filed project plans for a 37-townhouse project on the site that was part of a larger retirement village project at 2 Collegium Avenue, Wheelers Hill, 20km south-east of the CBD. 

A proposal to develop the 55,600sq m L-shaped site into the Nellie Melba Retirement Village, comprising five two-to-five-storey buildings of 94 assisted living suites, 199 aged care beds, 328 independent living apartments and 559 carparking bays was approved in 2016. 

The site is bordered by Academy Avenue, Collegium Avenue, Strada Crescent and Brandon Park Drive.

Ryman Healthcare owns the retirement village portion of the site, which it bought in 2021, according to title deed documents submitted with the application as well as ASIC records. 

DM Property purchased a 9065sq m surplus section of the site in December for an undisclosed sum. 

Cushman and Wakefield’s Hamish Burgess, Joe Kairouz and Leon Ma negotiated the sale.

“Melbourne’s middle ring continues to attract significant developer interest as existing infill sites are well-serviced, in proven residential markets, and sought after due to their scarcity,” Burgess said at the time. 

The surplus section is at the corner of Academy Avenue and Brandon Park Drive, next to the Monash Special Developmental School and opposite Brandon Park Shopping Centre. 

Rothelowman designed the plans for the proposed townhouses in a mix of two to four bedrooms. 

BP Drive Dev is the applicant on council records. ASIC records list its directors as Brendan Mullan and David Dordevic, who are the co-founders of DM Property.

DM Property has a pipeline of townhouse, apartment and land subdivision projects worth $500 million.