A New Residential Chapter For St Kilda, A Precinct With Deep Cultural & Queer History

For decades, the beachside suburb of St Kilda has drawn people who prefer to live a bit differently, outside the usual rules and rhythms. Artists, musicians, drag queens and all kinds of LGBTQIA+ folks have left fingerprints here.

While St Kilda has evolved over the years, Fitzroy Street is now at the centre of a broader revitalisation that is bringing renewed energy to the area. 

Construction is underway on The Gild, Fortis’ $131 million mixed-use development at 61-73 Fitzroy Street, which will deliver 45 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, including a collection of penthouses, ahead of completion in the first half of 2028.

Inside, the residences are complemented by a range of amenities: a private dining room, an adaptable wellness studio with a sauna and steam room, and a landscaped courtyard tucked behind the building. On the rooftop, an alfresco kitchen and open area for entertaining gives you sweeping views across Port Phillip Bay and the city — stunning, obviously. 

But the neighbourhood experience really starts at street level. Former AFL player and Lamaro’s Hotel publican Paul Dimattina has signed a 12-year lease over two ground-floor tenancies. He plans to open a 180-square-metre café serving Dimattina Coffee and a 202-square-metre neighbourhood deli, both expected to open when the building is completed.

“I’m looking forward to being part of the revitalisation of Fitzroy Street, St Kilda — it has such a rich identity, and it feels like the right home for what we’re building,” Dimattina said.

That “rich identity” has substance. Fitzroy Street grew into one of Melbourne’s most visible LGBTQIA+ precincts through the drag, music and nightlife around venues including the Prince of Wales Hotel, where queer nights out became legend.

Since 1996, Pride March has poured down the street towards Catani Gardens. And, it also houses the sensational Victorian Pride Centre — which Fortis has recently partnered with — a phenomenal space that gives our community organisations a permanent home in the historic suburb.

Its queer history is still being made by people who march here, work here and dance here, who fight about community and then turn up for one another anyway. 

So, this story isn’t just about “new apartments in a great postcode”. Sometimes development has made a habit of pushing out the very communities that gave a neighbourhood its spark – but that’s not the case here. Respecting St Kilda means caring whether its public life remains welcoming, vibrant and wonderfully queer.

Fortis says the apartments have been selling well due to “buyer confidence”, and builder BCentral main construction work on site. The development occupies a 2,660-square-metre site and will add 65 metres of retail and hospitality venues to the street.

The Gild is part of the Fortis-led St Kilda Collective, alongside developments by ERDI and Ondas, with the City of Port Phillip supporting the broader renewal. Together, the projects represent more than $196 million in development activity. Nearby, The Fifth Province is expanding, while The Prince Hotel is being refreshed under Grant Smillie.

Buyers at The Gild will get those extraordinary views and, yes, a very nice sauna, but they will also become neighbours in a place whose identity was built by people who refused to flatten themselves for anybody. That history will remain downstairs, out on a transforming Fitzroy Street, carrying on as it always has — rambunctious, joyful, and proudly LGBTQIA+.