Barak Beacon, Port Melbourne

The Barak Beacon redevelopment will deliver 408 modern homes across four buildings, ranging from 2 to 11 storeys.  

The new homes will include social, affordable rental, market rental and Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) homes, with a mix of one-, 2-, 3 and 4-bedroom homes.  

The project will also deliver landscaped gardens, a new park, children’s play space, community garden, multipurpose community room and space for a café or social enterprise. 

You can view the development plans on Engage Victoria.  

The new homes will be bright and modern and have been designed to complement the Port Melbourne area.

The buildings will be tenure blind. This means all social, affordable rental and market rental homes will be built to the same standard and look the same.

To see what the new homes will look like, visit the ‘Look inside the new homes at Barak Beacon’ page. You can also view the development plans on Engage Victoria.

How you apply depends on the type of home.

Social homes are allocated through the Victorian Housing Register. Affordable and market rental homes have a separate application process. 

Affordable and market rental homes are managed by Horizon Housing Realty on behalf of Community Housing Limited. For more information about the Expressions of Interest (EOI) process and how to apply, visit the ‘Look inside the new homes at Barak Beacon’ page.

Once the homes are complete from late 2026, Building Communities will manage the site for 40 years. 

Building Communities includes community housing provider Community Housing Limited (CHL) and tenancy manager Horizon Housing Realty (HHR). 

CHL will manage the social homes, including tenancy management, maintenance and community development programs, with staff based on site. HHR will manage the affordable and market rental homes.

Previous renters will have the opportunity to return to the new homes, provided they meet the eligibility criteria and the homes are suitable for their needs. 

The new homes will also be available to people on the Victorian Housing Register, including people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, older women, Aboriginal Victorians and people with a disability. 

Affordable homes will be available to eligible low- to moderate-income households, while market rental homes will be available through the private rental market. 

Specialist Disability Accommodation homes will be available for eligible National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants.

Yes. Previous renters of Barak Beacon will be invited to return to the new homes once they are complete, provided they meet the eligibility criteria and the homes are suitable for their needs.

We invited the community to share ideas to help plan the Barak Beacon site in June and July 2022. 

We also sought feedback on the proposed plans between February and March 2024. 

Community feedback helped inform the final plans for the site. 

To learn more about the consultation process and view the consultation reports, visit Engage Victoria. 

The 87 social homes previously on the site were no longer fit for purpose and the site was underused. 

Redeveloping the site will provide more housing close to public transport, jobs and community services, just 3 km from Melbourne’s city centre.

Yes. During planning, we investigated refurbishing the existing homes.  

Because of site constraints and updated housing design standards, redevelopment under the Ground Lease Model was found to be the most socially, environmentally and economically sustainable long-term option.

The new homes will be all electric and designed to achieve a 5-Star Green Star rating and an average 7-Star NatHERS rating. This will make them more comfortable to heat and cool throughout the year.

The Ground Lease Model is a partnership approach to delivering social housing. 

Homes Victoria leases the land to a consortium, which finances, plans, builds, manages and maintains the homes for 40 years. 

After this period, the land and homes return to Homes Victoria. This means there is no sale of public land.

You can learn more about the Ground Lease Model on our website.

Building Communities is a not-for-profit consortium appointed by Homes Victoria to deliver the new homes at Barak Beacon. 

The consortium includes ICON as the builder and Community Housing Limited (CHL) as the community housing provider. 

Ground Lease Model 2 includes the redevelopment of housing sites at Barak Beacon in Port Melbourne, Bluff Road in Hampton East, Essex Street in Prahran and Simmons Street in South Yarra. 

Homes Victoria has appointed Building Communities to deliver these projects, which will provide new social, affordable and market rental homes across Melbourne. 

• Social housing is an umbrella term that includes community housing and public housing.

• Community housing is affordable, long-term housing managed by a community housing provider. These are experienced, not-for-profit organisations that provide tenancy management, maintenance, community building and support services. At Barak Beacon, the future homes will be managed by an on-site community housing provider.

• Public housing is long-term housing managed by the Victorian Government. The Office of Housing provides tenancy management, maintenance and community support services. Previously, the Barak Beacon site was managed by the Office of Housing in South Melbourne.

• Affordable housing is housing for very low- to moderate-income households. It is priced so residents can still afford essential living costs. Income thresholds are updated each year using Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data. The on-site community housing provider will manage applications for affordable homes delivered as part of the Ground Lease Model 2 (GLM2) project. Eligible tenants will be offered 3-year rental agreements to provide greater housing stability. 

• Specialist Disability Accommodation is housing designed for people with high physical support needs. It helps residents live more independently and allows support services to be delivered more safely. For example, a home may include reinforced ceilings so a ceiling hoist can be installed.