Tim Gurner, who made his fortune in Melbourne residential property development, plans to build an office and retail tower in Melbourne's inner suburb of Fitzroy North.  

Gurner has struck a deal with the owners of the site on Queens Parade, and plans a $90 million development that is likely to include a supermarket, and will cater for small, medium and large businesses.

The site is down the road from another site being developed by Gurner, where numerous planning applications have been knocked back, and in the vicinity of several other of his developments.

“By the end of 2019 we will have completed over 1,750 apartments across no less than 20 buildings within 700m of each other and brought some of Australia’s best restaurant and café operators to the area," said Gurner.

With a strong residential development profile in Collingwood and Fitzroy "diversifying into commercial is the natural next step for us," he said. 

Gurner said he believes small-to-medium business will begin to move out of the CBD to the inner suburban commercial market, reflecting changes in the structure of work.

The City of Yarra is forecast to grow 30 per cent over the next 20 years.

Gurner told The Australian Financial Review, the development is about diversifying his portfolio, not a response to concerns about apartment oversupply in Melbourne.

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