QUEENSLAND-based property developer David Devine is wasting no time getting back into the Melbourne development scene.

Four months since retiring from the listed development giant he established in 1983 – now known as Devine Limited – Mr Devine’s newest incarnation, Metro Property Development, has paid $10.2 million for an eight hectare site in Doreen.

The land, at 60 Orchard Road, on the corner of Garden Road, will be subdivided into about 150 lots and carry an average block price of about $200,000. Assuming homes worth $250,000 are developed on each block, Metro’s Doreen project could have an end value of close to $70 million.

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MELBOURNE’s next unique office – which will in this case be configured as a laboratory and classrooms – starts construction in Bundoora this month.

La Trobe University’s $93 million La Trobe Institute of Molecular Science (LIMS) project will rise six levels from Science Road, at its Bundoora campus, about 17 kilometres north of town.

The biotechnology and nanotechnology education facility is due for completion late next year.

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AND so all eyes turn to 50 Albert Road, in South Melbourne, after the decision this week by new planning minister Matthew Guy to reject a 29-level, 88-metre proposal across the road at #35, based on height.

Hamton Property Group is planning to build a 28-level, 89-metre tower on its site at 42 – 50 Albert Road, having marketed the project, Fifty Albert, since the middle of last year.

Both the Asia-based owner of 35 Albert Road, and Hamton, paid about $15.5 million for their respective South Melbourne sites last April.

Hamton’s site was purchased with a permit for a 220-dwelling apartment complex. However it shrunk the size of the units so that 294 flats could fit within the approved building’s shell.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal approved that major amendment last August.

By comparison the owner of 35 Albert Road proposed 420 apartments within an 88 metre tower. Another tower of similar height is proposed at 60 Albert Road, too.

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ANOTHER prominent inner-city site, formerly occupied by 63-year old car dealership Flinkier Motors, has hit the market.

This time at 390 – 396 Dynon Road in West Melbourne, a 1517 square metre site with residential or commercial redevelopment potential is expected to fetch about $1.4 million.

The site was until recently occupied by National Hire and is still configured as an office warehouse. It’s surrounded by a mix of low rise industrial warehouses and the Maribyrnong River, which is also the Footscray suburb border.

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QUEENSLAND’s tourism industry is “right at the bottom of the pits”, with expectations it will take some regions up to three months to fully rebuild.

That said, the government is trying to encourage visitors to the state, which has many businesses that thrive on the tourism dollar.

The sector is reportedly worth some $9.2 billion.

Billionaire businessman Bob Oatley told the AFR he expects it to take three months for some parts of Queensland to rebuild following fatal floods, and then cyclone Yasi.

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DESPITE fears Melbourne’s $4.3 billion regional rail link might be shelved, Australia’s biggest developers are exploiting last year’s Urban Growth Boundary changes, continuing to quietly snap up farmland in Melbourne’s mid-west.

This time, in Plumpton, Sydney-based Delfin Lend Lease has paid about $30 million for an approximate 63 hectare site on Beattys Road.

The land was included within the revised UGB last year, and was understood to have been sold by Oliver Hume director – special projects, Peter Vassallo, who was unavailable for comment.

Toni Mills, head of Delfin Lend Lease, told The Saturday Age's Capital Gain it planned to undergo a planning and community consultation process to determine the most appropriate vision for the site.

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ONE of the northern suburb’s most controversial residential development sites has sold for $6.7 million.

The vacant AMF Northcote Bowl complex at 166 – 174 Victoria Street, on the north-east corner of Separation Street, was listed for sale by Hong Kong based conglomerate Far East Consortium last October.

It paid Macquarie $5 million for the 4716 square metre site in early 2009, and shortly after, convinced VCAT to approve a permit which would see the distinctive centre demolished and replaced with 73 flats and 18 townhouses.

One of the proposal’s criticisms was that the busy intersection, with thin roads, would be even more overrun with cars. Others argue the site’s previous use as a bowling centre would have contributed somewhat to the traffic in the area.

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HOME builder Swenrick Constructions is offloading its south-east Melbourne headquarters ahead of a relocation.

The 6738 square metre Springvale supersite, with street addresses of 782 – 794 Princes Highway and 2 – 4 Hillside Street (image, right), is used by Swenrick as offices and display suites. It’s spread over nine adjoining titles.

It’s expected to sell for between $4 and $4.5 million, and be redeveloped into a medium density townhouse or apartment project with an end value of about $50 million.

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A SOUTH African investor is set to reap between $17 million and $25 million, from the sale of an entire apartment block on Bondi Beach, in Sydney’s ritzy east.

The complex at 105 Ramsgate Avenue includes 10 apartments, and the only “boathouse” on Bondi Beach – a small cupboard effectively, big enough for a kayak sized vessel.

The vendor, businessman and developer Neill Miller, is selling the block after obtaining a permit to build three luxury apartments on the site.

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VICROADS - whose days headquartered from dank offices in one of Melbourne’s ritziest suburbs are reportedly numbered – is expecting some $15 million from the sale of a 31.3 hectare residential development site on what is now Melbourne’s northern outskirts, but will soon be considered a middle-ring suburb.

The Craigieburn site with a street address of 650 Hume Highway, is spread over two sides of the recently opened Hume Freeway*, which connects commuters to the Western Ring Road and the CBD in one direction, or the Metropolitan Ring Road, and a Greensborough traffic jam at the other.

The Melbourne-Sydney railway line dissects the southern edge of both VicRoads sites, some 25 kilometres from town.

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