Tract Consultants seem to have been involved very early on in Dandenong's revitalisation project, before the project had an official title, and before VicUrban came to be known by its current name. Their site has some very interesting sketches and design concepts for the saleyards area around the railway station, which was originally the only area to be redeveloped. It's been over 5 years since those sketches were made, but they are still quite relevant. Most of Metro Village seems to have panned out as planned — at least, those areas slated for up to 2 stories. The taller developments nearer Cheltenham Road have yet to happen; given that they are almost all that remains, I'm hoping to see something in those areas very soon.
The main changes from the original plans (besides the major increase in project scope to the northern side of the rail tracks) appear to be:
- Some residential areas near the rail line have been replaced by Grenda's head office;
- A much curvier and much less practical design for Stockmans Bridge that tried to merge into Railway Parade has been aligned with Allan St;
- A bridge over the creek effectively connecting Walker St with George St, Allan St and Morwell Ave to the south of the creek is missing (though this will almost certainly still happen at some point); and
- A more grid-based design for Metro Village was used than what was shown in the sketches, which means it has turned out slightly more dense than originally conceived.
So far, things are looking on track, even if progress has been a little slow. The real test will be with the taller buildings near Cheltenham Road. These will be a much harder sell, particularly with the property market coming off the boil. But it's these developments that will have the biggest impact on Dandenong's future success; the city can't afford low utility, low density designs in this key area.