Dockland‘s Past and Present
The history of the Docklands dates back to Melbourne in the 1880s. Before that, Docklands was just a deserted wetland. In the 1880s, a project to change the course of the Yarra River began. This project made the Yarra River wider and larger ships accessible to Melbourne. This project not only directly enhances the economic development of Melbourne, but also the birth of a new port close to the Melbourne CBD – Victoria Dock. (Now Docklands location)
During the two wars that changed the course of human development in the 20th century, Docklands used to be the base of the Australian Navy. Many warships departed from here to the battlefield or returned from the battlefield. By the 1920s or so, it was already the busiest port in Melbourne. However, with the post-war Australian economy’s growing demand for large container shipping, Docklands’ Shallow Harbor features do not support this as a hub for large container shipping and the government is also starting to build new ports in West Melbourne today . Increasingly, the Docklands area has been in a long, trough period since the 1950s.
Early recovery
In 1992, Jeff Kennett was chosen as Australian Prime Minister. After taking office, he kicked off a series of major projects, including the ambitious Docklands revival plan. At that time, the plan was unanimously optimistic to many developers and investors, and it has also become the golden place of many people’s eyes. At the time, the first group of residents who had relocated from other places to live in Docklands was often the subject of news coverage.
However, it was clear that people in those days were unprepared for such a large-scale regional development. In 1996, the government began a bidding exercise for a new round of development in the Docklands, hoping to turn it into a landmark when Melbourne met the “Millennials.” Soon, people realized it was not realistic. Due to the lack of infrastructure investment in the planning of the Docklands and the reluctance of developers to invest in infrastructure projects such as infrastructure in Docklands at that time, the development of the area was slowed down at some time. The influx of vacancies in the small area due to lack of infrastructure can also scare away a large part of the investors who originally believed in this lush area.
Docklands winds
For some of Melbourne’s residents, Docklands used to be a home they did not want to consider and some even waited for jokes in the area. There’s an apartment like “springing up,” but the popularity has not been enough; there was no post office, no kiosks, no shopping places, and because of the special geographical location of Docklands, the winds blowing from time to time Many local residents talk about the Docklands area one of the necessary topics. However, just as many people have been impressed here for more than a decade, changes in Docklands are quietly taking place.
In 2000, Steve Bracks, the new governor of Victoria, opened a new round of development for the Docklands. Under the new plan, the Docklands area will be built by 2025 to create a sustainable new district that can accommodate 20,000 inhabitants and create 60,000 jobs each year and millions of tourists. In addition, there will be richer water sports, community spaces, artwork, entertainment areas, and residential complexes that reach directly into Melbourne’s heart. In fact, the Victorian government plans to make the area a notable area of Sydney’s Darling Harbor. Within this year alone, large-scale infrastructure projects in the Docklands area are dazzling:
Harbourtown Shopping Center, acquired by ING Real Estate in 2014, will feature a Hoyts Cinema with 8 screens and a standard Woolworth supermarket. With a total investment of more than 150 million Australian dollars, this will bring tremendous convenience to shopping in the Docklands. Construction of the Hoyts Cinema has started in May and will open in mid-2018, while the new Woolworth Supermarket will open in 2019. The completion of these two projects is expected to greatly “activate” the popularity of the Docklands area at night.
Internationally renowned luxury hotel chain Marriott officially announced in August this year that it will open a new Marriott hotel with 200 hotel rooms in the Docklands area, which will be the first Marriott hotel to be built over 20 years in Australia. It is reported that the new Marriott’s total investment of 200 million Australian dollars by the well-known Australian design company DKO Architecture responsible for architectural design, the project will be a 17-story Petronas Twin Towers in one, while the other is a senior apartment . Marriott’s new construction will bring more than 500 construction jobs, as well as 100 permanent job opportunities after completion. The project is expected to start construction in mid-2018.
Docklands public elementary school construction
With the fervent hope of locals, the Victorian government finally announced the construction of Docklands Public Primary School in 2017. The school will provide students from preschool to sixth grade into school, and can accommodate about 475 students. It will pick up students from the Docklands area as well as the CBD, West Melbourne and more. The Victorian government estimates that by the year 2036 alone, there will be more than 1,500 school-age students aged 5-14 in the Docklands alone.
Docklands: From “not too livable” to “hot”
In the past few months, there has been a hot topic in the media about the drop in the vacancy rate in Melbourne’s real estate market and the demand for condos in short supply. Compared with the argument of “oversupply” spread over several years, this time public opinion has changed rapidly about Melbourne Apartments. Amazing. Docklands, an area within easy reach of the Melbourne CBD, has naturally become a beneficiary of the current tight-knit apartment market. Melbourne CBD real estate agent Glenn Donnelly said in an interview: “At this moment I have almost no listings for sale or rent here.”
People in the past were apparently less friendly with Docklands, thinking that there was not enough space here, so they were reluctant to move in, but now they have everything they need to live in a comfortable neighborhood. “For example, in Yarra’s Edge, a region developed by Mirvac, you will find that most of the residents are self-employed, Mirvac is doing great, there are many public areas built there and people are increasingly attracted to it.” Roughly calculated, of the 3008 apartments he sells, about 80% are self-occupied buyers.
At present, the overall progress of the Docklands area is only about 60%. When no more than a square meter of land is available for development in the entire Docklands by 2025, it will only be able to accommodate up to 20,000 people at a time, while Melbourne currently has a weekly population of about 2,200.
Only a handful of people will be the first to “eat crabs” from nothing in a very large, integrated planning area like Docklands, where they will be laid out early; more will choose to wait until Everything is seen as real-time only to find the value here, then it will certainly pay a higher price.
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“I did not care about me yesterday, and I can not climb you up tomorrow.” This may be quoted frequently by people who talked about the historical development of the Docklands some years later.
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