New social housing for rough sleepers in city’s CBD – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

A vacant building in Melbourne’s CBD will be repurposed for social housing, providing accommodation to dozens of rough sleepers in the heart of the city.

The $24.9m Make Room site will house up to 50 residents for up to 12 months in studio apartments and is scheduled to be completed in late 2024.

The project will repurpose a vacant six-storey council-owned building at 602 Little Bourke St and will be delivered in partnership with the Labor government, City of Melbourne, Unison Housing and philanthropic donors.

The site, which was formerly used as an electricity supply building, also has a basement and rooftop.

City of Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the project would set a “new standard” for transitional supported accommodation in Victoria.

“The whole community benefits when we work collaboratively to help people out of homelessness,” she said.

“We’ve seen that people can take back control of their lives when housing and support is available.”

The Allan government has provided $9m in capital funding for the project under the Building Works stimulus package and the Sustained Solutions for Housing First to end Rough…