Dark clouds are hanging over the $160 million St Kilda Marina redevelopment with a crucial deadline approaching on 31 March.
Last year, TWiSK reported that progress on the Marina was obviously behind schedule and that the Council had “gone quiet” on the project.
That radio silence continued until 24 February when an email to interested parties appeared in our inbox.
Buried beneath a reassuring headline (St Kilda Marina Redevelopment – Landlord Approval for Developed Design), the message announced a looming deadline that could signal the abandonment of the project and a move back to the drawing board.
Kaboom! A new lease could start on April Fool’s Day.
The email states (after seven paragraphs of bureaucratic obfuscation):
“While we had hoped the project would be further advanced by now, we acknowledge the significant cost escalation in the estimated redevelopment costs. This is why the Council has extended a key milestone date in the lease to 31 March 2025. This will provide additional time for AMDC to work through this challenge and confirm their ability to proceed with the redevelopment of this high-profile site.
“If this is not possible, a short-term 3.5-year ‘interim’ lease is proposed to replace the current lease with AMDC from 1 April 2025. The Council will receive rent of approximately $1.8 million across the term of this lease, if it is activated.”
But still no further comment from the Council or developer.
After reading this a few times in search of clarity, we contacted both the Council and developer for comment. More radio silence. But the Council did put the email on their news page (but without a media release):
A lost decade?
This is potentially a bureaucratic bombshell of epic proportions that has been brewing since before we first raised concerns in April 2024.
If this project falls through on 31 March, there will be many long faces at Town Hall because the proposed interim lease will mean a full decade will have been lost on a pipe dream.
And if, my some miracle, ADMC can continue with the original vision they will be significantly behind the project timeline in a economic cycle of rising costs.
Consider this decade of delay:
– 2018: Consultation starts
– 2020: Long-term lease signed with AMDC
– 2020 – 2025: Almost every project milestone missed
– 2025: Maybe new short-term 3.5-year ‘holding pattern’ lease starts
– 2029: First opportunity for new lease
Sunk by contamination?
A working marina (with a petrol station) was bound to have contamination issues. But the whole site was built on reclaimed land – and that’s a pile of problems.
But this is not news. And it’s not the whole story.
More will be revealed.
And on 1 April there will more questions to ask – and we wont be joking around.
Read our report from April 2024.
We explain the project and the vision. We also question why the Council has adopted radio silence.
Read Trevor White’s report as a member of the 2018 community panel
Whistle blowers welcome
If you know more about this or any other story, please contact Greg Day 0418 345 829 for a conversation. You can mail documents to 31 Alma Road, St Kilda 3182. Discretion assured .
