Docklands and Southbank in Focus: What Happened on Melbourne's Waterfront This Week

The Andrews-era promise to fix Docklands moved a step closer to reality this week after the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning confirmed it had received a formal rezoning application covering 4.2 hectares along Harbour Esplanade — the strip between Collins Street's western end and the NewQuay precinct — that would allow for ground-floor retail activation and residential density increases of up to 40 storeys. The application, lodged by development consortium Lendlease and Mirvac jointly, has been publicly advertised for community comment until August 1.

The timing matters. Melbourne's housing affordability index, published by the Real Estate Institute of Victoria in June, recorded median apartment prices in the Docklands postcode at $642,000 — down 6.8 percent over 12 months, a sharper fall than any other inner-city suburb. State Housing Minister Colin Brooks has flagged the precinct as a priority zone under the government's Housing Statement targets, which require an additional 70,000 dwellings in established urban areas by 2031. Sitting on underutilised Crown land while the waiting list for public housing in the City of Melbourne sits above 2,500 households, the pressure to do something with Docklands is real and not going away.

Southbank Gets Its Own Reckoning

A kilometre east along the Yarra, Southbank has had its own turbulent week. The $1.1 billion redevelopment of the Southbank Arts Precinct — formally known as the Creative State Infrastructure Program — hit a snag on Tuesday when the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union issued a notice of dispute to the Victorian Building Authority over what it described as non-compliant subcontracting arrangements on the Arts Centre Melbourne site. The dispute centres on Stage 2 works behind the Hamer Hall complex on St Kilda Road, with union delegates alleging that two subcontractors engaged by the head contractor, Multiplex, had failed to meet Enterprise Bargaining Agreement obligations. No work stoppages have been recorded as of Saturday morning, but sources close to the project say talks are continuing.

The Creative State Infrastructure Program, announced under the previous Arts portfolio budget in 2024, had been on track for a mid-2028 completion for the Hamer Hall precinct works. Any prolonged industrial action could push that date. The Victorian government has not publicly commented on the dispute, but the VBA confirmed it was examining the notice.

Separately, the Southbank Boulevard shared path upgrade — a $22 million City of Melbourne project running from Queensbridge Street to the Grant Street intersection — opened its first completed section to cyclists and pedestrians on Thursday. The 680-metre stretch includes widened footpaths, new landscaping and dedicated cycling lanes separated from foot traffic by low kerbs. The council's Transport Portfolio chair confirmed the remaining two sections would be finished by March 2027.

What Comes Next for Both Precincts

The Docklands rezoning application will go to a Planning Panel hearing if submissions raise substantive objections — a near-certainty given that two existing residents' bodies, the NewQuay Residents Association and the Waterfront City Residents Group, have already flagged concerns about wind impact and overshadowing on the Victoria Harbour waterway. A panel process typically adds six to nine months to any final decision, meaning approval before late 2027 is optimistic.

On the Southbank side, the City of Melbourne's Activate Southbank grant program — which offers up to $50,000 to hospitality and arts businesses operating in the precinct — reopens for its second round of applications on July 14. Seventeen businesses received funding in the first round, including several along Southgate Avenue. The council says the program is designed specifically to address the foot-traffic gaps on weekday lunchtimes that have plagued the precinct since the post-pandemic office-return figures plateaued at around 68 percent of pre-2020 levels, according to the City of Melbourne's Economic Insights report from May.

Anyone with an interest in the Harbour Esplanade rezoning can submit comments through the DTPB's Engage Victoria portal before the August 1 deadline. The Southbank Boulevard opening is free and permanent — no portal required.