This week, we marked two significant milestones on our student accommodation project at the corner of King and Little Bourke Streets, the official commencement of construction and the appointment of one of Australia’s leading Student Accommodation operators, UniLodge as operator. We celebrated on site with joint venture partners MaxCap, Deputy Lord Mayor Roshena Campbell, and representatives from UniLodge, RMIT University and the University of Melbourne.
In keeping with our MADE for LIFE commitment, we buried a time capsule in the building’s foundations, messages from those gathered, left for the future Melburnians who will one day call this place home.
570 Little Bourke sits on one of Melbourne’s most storied sites. The historic Great Western Hotel, a King Street landmark for over 160 years, that will be carefully reimagined as a new hospitality offering, honouring the character of the original while creating something worthy of its next chapter. The adjoining Brown Alley will also be activated with new retail spaces, improving pedestrian safety and connectivity between Lonsdale and Little Bourke Streets.
“We see this area of the CBD as a clear opportunity for revitalisation and as a proud Melbourne-born company, we’ve made a determined commitment to being part of that solution,” said Michael Argyrou, Group CEO, Hickory.
The result will be a genuine anchor for the revitalisation of Melbourne’s western CBD, 892 much-needed student beds, a reimagined pub experience, and a more connected, activated precinct for the city.
Marking the two milestones, Zoran Trimcevski, Head of Property at Hickory, said, “We are thrilled to commence construction and appoint an operator for this important project for Hickory and MaxCap, which is one of Melbourne’s largest new PBSA developments. With works now underway, we are looking forward to welcoming students in collaboration with UniLodge at the start of the 2028 academic year.”
570 Little Bourke is also the first project Hickory is delivering under our integrated builder-developer model, and it represents a significant shift in how we bring projects to market.
By uniting development and construction under one roof from day one, we are able to reduce planning and delivery risk, accelerate design documentation and drive efficiencies that make complex projects like this not just possible, but better. What would typically take years to progress through design development has been achieved in a matter of months.
It’s a model we believe will set a new benchmark for how Melbourne builds.
570 Little Bourke is also a showcase of what three decades of manufacturing innovation makes possible.
During construction, we will install SYNC prefabricated bathroom pods, manufactured at our facility in Laverton. Fully finished, inspected and rigorously tested on the factory floor before arriving on site, these pods significantly reduce on-site labour requirements and deliver a consistently higher quality finish. The building’s façade will be prefabricated at our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in China — developed through rigorous research and development to enhance building performance while delivering more cost-effective solutions.
Less waste. Tighter tolerances. Shorter programmes. This is how we build.
Watch this space
570 Little Bourke is a project we’re genuinely proud of, and we’re only just getting started. We’ll be sharing more as construction progresses.
