YET to be replaced Federal Minister for Finance and Deregulation Lindsay Tanner may be moving out the marginal Melbourne electorate he quit last month, but a plunder of new residents are waiting to call the area home.

A construction crew is currently demolishing the historic Harold Boot Company factory at the south-west corner of Nicholson and Gipps streets, in Abbotsford.

A $25 million, five-storey, 59-unit apartment building will replace the Harold building, after registered housing association Common Equity Housing Limited purchased the factory during the economic downturn for about $4.7 million.