Six Boutique Developers Making Waves in 2024
They are the property developers with passion who are thinking differently with a view to changing our urban landscapes and living spaces for the better.
Even under the prevailing industry challenges of labour constraints and construction cost escalations that are creating a feasibility crunch on most projects, they are sticking to their visions to move cities, towns and suburbs forward.
Not afraid to break the mould, these developers push the boundaries of built form design and innovative placemaking across development sites big and small.
Working with equally visionary architects, designers, builders, funders, councils and communities they are leading the way with pipelines of projects focused on making new things happen in the development realm.
As the co-founder of tech giant Apple, the late Steve Jobs, once said: “Those people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that actually do”.
Geno Hubay’s Monno—the renamed incarnation of Melbourne-based boutique developer CostaFox—has a $1.25-billion development pipeline with $200 million in projects under construction.
These include the $130-million residential project Stella Maris at Rippleside and a $70-million office building at Cremorne.
In November, Monno won approval for its latest mixed-use project in Geelong—a $75-million, 12-storey carbon neutral tower with ground floor retail and hospitality spaces, commercial office space on the first floor and 58 apartments over the remaining levels.
It will be fully electrified with renewable energy supplied via an embedded network. Passive design would also be incorporated to achieve a NatHERS rating of 7.5 stars.
The JCB Architects-designed scheme is earmarked for a 917sq m site at 61-71 Moorabool Street with environmental design consultation and advice provided by Hip V Hype.
It also features covered arcades and active street frontages to enhance Geelong’s laneway culture as well as public spaces and a residents-only rooftop area.
“We genuinely believe in Geelong—we have long identified the region as a strategic investment opportunity leveraging our strong design-led capabilities,” Hubay says.
“Our Stella Maris development is testament to our commitment to Geelong and the broader region.”
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