Scape starts 58-storey Melbourne student tower above State Library station

Australian student accommodation provider Scape has broken ground on a 58-storey tower atop the new State Library station in central Melbourne, which it says will be the world’s tallest student dorm upon completion in 2029. RMIT University has signed a A$190 million, 15-year lease for the first nine

Australian student accommodation provider Scape has started construction of a 58-storey tower in central Melbourne which the company says will be the tallest student accommodation building in the world upon its completion in 2029.

The State Library Exchange tower at 393 Swanston Street is being built directly above Melbourne’s new State Library train station on a 55,000 square metre (592,015 square feet) development site next to RMIT University’s city campus. Construction began this week.

RMIT will lease the first nine levels of the tower for teaching and research labs, while the upper 46 levels will house 1,420 students in rooms developed and operated by Scape, which is part of The Living Company, RMIT University said in a statement. RMIT has signed a A$190 million ($136 million), 15-year lease for the first nine levels with an option to extend for an additional 10 years, said Scape co-founder and chair Craig Carracher.

The Swanston Street tower will take the title of the world’s tallest student housing structure from Scape Franklin, which Carracher and his team completed in 2021. That existing building is located just five minutes’ walk from the State Library Exchange site on Franklin Street.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with RMIT to deliver the State Library Exchange – a project above one of the busiest transit corridors in the world – Swanston Street’s tram line – and connected directly into the Metro Tunnel, State Library Station puts the Exchange at the literal crossing point of how Melbourne moves, learns and lives,” said Anouk Darling, chief executive of Scape.

“This investment marks a defining moment for RMIT’s future – a place where students, researchers and industry partners collaborate in the heart of Melbourne,” RMIT vice-chancellor Alec Cameron said. “Being connected to State Library Station strengthens RMIT’s presence in one of Melbourne’s most important civic and cultural precincts.” The State Library station forms part of the Victorian government’s Metro Tunnel project, which is delivering twin nine-kilometre rail tunnels and five new underground stations beneath Melbourne’s city centre.

For Scape, the project expands a growing national portfolio and comes after its parent, The Living Company, last week said it had acquired the Boston University Sydney Academic Centre in central Sydney’s Chippendale area for A$72.5 million, with that property also set to be operated under the Scape brand. The Living Company manages more than A$18 billion in assets and operates more than 30,000 beds and units across its platforms.