12 September 2019:

So there was a fire in my street yesterday- it was in this 60s block of studio flats, mostly vacant but a few single older men still there – it was sold last year and a permit to replace it with 7 townhouses (of course). Saw a bunch of people wandering in and out the other day, thought maybe they were going to lease it out after all…I see one ‘for rent’ ad, ‘only for 4 months’ so ok might have been getting tenants in short term but maybe a squatter got in ? Update 2021: it was demolished a year later, one townhouse now left, only $1.5mill, a few signs of construction a month ago then stopped.

December 2025

Some extreme gentrification in my area, Dalgety Street St Kilda. This was a block of 12 studio flats, pretty cheap rent I believe, home to some single older men, amongst others. Sold in 2018, anyone who needed it was rehoused, but then a fire, and then boarded up for a while.

New townhouses then went up from 2020, Covid delayed, completed in 2022. An interesting and fairly attractive design by @chamberlainarchitects, I do like the way they’ve used brick, and the rhythms going down the lane. I’ve been in one open for inspection, they’re pretty tight! And lots of stairs, but if you’re young and fit and you can afford them, then you’ll like the rooftop from where you can actually see a bit of the bay.

My main criticism is that they’ve got full length unshaded (but tinted) southwest facing windows, so from the lane you can see people’s beds on the first floor (I almost photographed a resident!), so mostly those curtains are drawn. They also look on the other side to the large rear garden of the flats next door, but the bottom half of the window is frosted for their privacy so you get the light but not much view.

The mural on the rear corner, by @george_rose, is fine though a bit splashy for my taste. They may house more people than before, but obviously a very different demographic.

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