Goldfields starts $170m The Brightly build in Richmond

Goldfields has started construction on The Brightly, a $170 million, 12-storey luxury apartment building in Richmond, with builder Ironside on site and a market launch set for November.

Why it matters

Goldfields is developing the project with Dexus Real Estate Partnership Fund 1 (DREP 1), which has come in as co-investor and delivery partner. Representatives of Goldfields and Ironside turned the first sod at the site on 13 October, according to the developer’s media release. Demolition is complete.

The order of events is the notable part. Most inner-Melbourne apartment projects of this size need a block of off-the-plan presales before a builder is engaged and ground is broken. The Brightly has gone the other way: the builder is mobilised and construction has started a month before the apartments are officially offered to buyers. That suggests the equity and funding are already in place through the Dexus fund, and it gives Goldfields a construction-underway project to sell into when it launches, rather than a render and a promise.

It is also a bet on the top end of the Richmond market. Of the 99 apartments, 19 are sub-penthouses and penthouses, and the mix runs from two to four bedrooms, with no one-bedroom stock in the latest description. That is a product aimed at owner-occupiers and downsizers rather than investors.

Goldfields chief executive Lachlan Thompson said in the release that the start of construction “marks an exciting milestone” in turning the vision for the building into a completed residential address.

The numbers

• Value: $170 million.
• Height: 12 storeys, per the developer’s release.
• Apartments: 99, in two-, three- and four-bedroom layouts, including 19 sub-penthouses and penthouses.
• Site: 9-15 Brighton Street, Richmond, in the City of Yarra, per The Urban Developer’s February report on the permit.
• Builder: Ironside.
• Capital partner: Dexus Real Estate Partnership Fund 1, co-investor and delivery partner.
• Ground floor: retail.

The figures have moved. When The Urban Developer reported Ironside’s appointment in February, it described an 11-storey building with 100 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The 13 October release gives 12 storeys and 99 apartments in a two- to four-bedroom mix, and we use those, the developer’s latest numbers. The release does not explain the change, and we have not assumed a reason.

The pitch: wellness amenity

The marketing leans hard on amenity. Residents get a wellness area with a warm magnesium pool, a cold plunge, a steam room and a sauna, plus a private dining room and a rooftop garden lounge. The release positions the location around Swan Street, Church Street, Richmond Station, the MCG and the Yarra River.

Wellness floors of this kind have become a standard feature of Melbourne’s luxury owner-occupier projects, and they carry real operating cost that falls on the owners corporation after handover. Buyers comparing projects should look at the budgeted levies as closely as the plunge pool.

What’s next

Goldfields says The Brightly will officially launch to market in November. A sales listing for the project has targeted completion for early 2028; the release itself does not give a completion date. The milestones to watch are the launch pricing for the penthouse tier, how much of the building sells before the structure rises, and whether the delivery date holds.