Developers use land for benefit of the future tenants

IT’S not often a developer starts a project by throwing away a big chunk of costly inner-city land. But that’s what Mantello Holdings has done with its latest project, Richmond’s Tanner Lane.

It is putting a street through the middle of the land in Tanner St, dividing the site in two.

“We cut a road through the middle of it and we’re doing two types of product — townhouses at the front and warehouse shells at the back,” Jeremy Mantello, one of two brothers who run the business, says.

The Mantellos have plenty of experience dealing with tight inner-city spaces.

They built a mixed-use residential and office development inside a heritage-listed building in city lane Bank Place, gutting the interior and retaining the facade.

Three additional levels on top completed the logistically tricky project, which was commended at the 2001 Royal Australian Institute of Architects awards.

In another city project, the Emerald Apartments, they redeveloped and restored 20 McKillop St into 12 apartments.

The Mantellos have plenty of experience in Richmond, where their office is based.

One of their earlier projects was converting the Henry Bucks building in nearby Stewart St into large apartments.

The Henry Bucks warehouses were offered as bare spaces, but most of the 14 units in Tanner Lane, the site of a former warehouse, are to be fully finished.

The eight large townhouses at the front of the development will have Miele kitchen appliances, polished concrete and timber floors, and smart wiring.

At the rear, six smaller properties will be offered as shells.

The development, designed by award-winning Buckerfield Architects, offers something that’s hard to come by in the inner city: each townhouse has a double garage, complete with remote-controlled roller door.

But Mantello says being close to the Richmond train station might prove more of an attraction.

“It’s close to everything,” he says. “You’re within walking distance of the CBD and the MCG.”

It’s also a short stroll from the Swan St shops, pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafes.

The three-bedroom townhouses are split over three levels.

Ground level features a home office that could be used as an extra bedroom and a garage.

The first floor is largely taken up by a huge open-plan living area, but also houses the kitchen and a terrace.

Bedrooms are on the top level, along with another smaller terrace.

The secondary bedrooms have built-in wardrobes and the large main bedroom has a walk-in wardrobe and ensuite.

Prices range from $685,000 for the smallest, a 201sq m shell, to $1.4 million for a fully-fitted 283sq m townhouse.

The project is due to be completed in June or July.

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