Council has purchased a unit block on Marriott Street not far from (St Kilda Aldi) for an undisclosed price.
The building will be demolished, and the land combined with the adjacent Jim Duggan Reserve (adjacent to the Betty Day Centre and North St Kilda Childcare Centre).
The cost is confidential
Mayor Heather Cunsolo confirmed that Council had acquired the property through direct negotiation and demolition will be complete in September.
Plans for an expanded reserve are yet to be unveiled.
‘So far we have only allocated funding for design at this point, with the full project budget to be allocated once the concept design is approved,’ she explained.
‘We will, of course, be involving our community in a consultation about the look and feel of the new parkland when we are further down the track.’
‘While there is an existing park nearby, the extra space means we can do a lot more there for our community.’
Green space premium
While the price paid is secret, the premium placed on such sites is not. Mayor Cunsolo made it clear to TWiSK that ‘more open space is desperately needed in this eastern part of St Kilda for a growing population.’
So how much did Council pay?
Dr Google says the last price paid for the site was over $3.6M. We can only guess how much council has now paid.
Would you like to know before your vote in October?
