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Parking tax hike to harm Melbourne CBD retailers and business

Financial Review 16 May 2013 The extra $45 million boost to the Victorian budget, to be generated through increased parking taxes, could harm retailers and CBD businesses, according to consultancy firm Urbis. The levy has jumped 130 per cent to its $930 per bay, per year rate after the congestion levy was introduced seven years [...]

Urbis hosts IAP2 Young Practitioners Networking event

On Thursday 9 May, Urbis hosted the IAP2 Young Practitioners Networking event.  50 up and coming engagement professionals gathered at our Sydney office to discuss the future of consultation in Australia and hear from leading experts in the field, including Urbis Public Policy Associate Director Dianne Knott. The first ideas forum was a great success, [...]

Owners affected by East-West tunnel should seek legal advice

8 May 2013 Simon Johanson Property Editor for The Age Owners forced to sell their properties to make way for the new East West tunnel should get independent legal and valuation advice, experts say. The controversial first stage of the $6 to $8 billion east west road link – connecting the Eastern Freeway to CityLink [...]

VICTORIAN PLANNING ZONES REFORM

8 May 2013 The Minister for Planning announced on Monday the implementation of the highly anticipated Commercial Zone reforms. The details of the new Commercial Zones have been released this afternoon, and will come into effect in all planning scheme across Victoria on 1st July 2013. The new zones are broadly consistent with the draft [...]

3D printing takes another step with manufacture of first gun and human ear

The decline in manufacturing is a constant discussion in Australia and the emergence of 3D printing as a method of rapid prototyping and production of small runs has been mentioned as part of the future for advanced manufacturing. Over the weekend, a step forward was achieved with 3D printing when a Texan group, Defense Distributed, [...]

How panel beaters can still exist as old industrial suburbs are transformed

In many inner urban areas across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, there is an increasing need to accommodate high density residential buildings without removing all light industrial premises such as panel beaters, auto repairs and commercial laundries.  In some of these urban renewal areas, there are planning measures to enable “the transition from predominantly industrial activities [...]

Wrong place, wrong use: freeing up Industrial land for much better use when markets change

When Australia’s cities were established, the inner areas were prioritised for retail and commercial uses, and outer areas were utilised for industrial purposes. As the cities grew, all of those “outer” areas have now become inner areas, and have left our cities with a raft of remnant industrial areas. What to do? Given that this [...]

StrataCell System Saves the Arena

StrataCell System Saves the Arena By Kristyn Maslog-Levis The CityGreen® Modular StrataCell System® was the system of choice at the recently completed Perth Arena in Western Australia. The Perth Arena is a 15,000 seat multi-purpose entertainment and sporting arena in the Perth CBD. The venue opened in November 2012 and is located adjacent to the [...]

Third Party Logistics (3PL), institutions and the hunt for yield

There are real fundamentals behind the recent strength in the Industrial property market. Urbis Valuations & Advisory has observed a few recent (and ongoing) themes that are supporting this sector. The 3PL framework  In a bygone era, companies managed their own logistics. Over recent decades this has been steadily changing and the use of third [...]

Australian Industrial sector has strong interest but requires careful assessment

Over recent months, Urbis have been increasingly involved in Industrial land and property projects, reflecting strong interest in this sector from a range of parties.  Industrial has evolved and in some ways it could be renamed ‘warehousing’, as there are very few manufacturing properties built or held for investment purposes. Nowadays, the industrial sector primarily [...]