Gurner Unveils $4bn Jam Factory Revival

Melbourne’s historic Jam Factory is being reimagined as a $4 billion mixed-use precinct, with GURNER aiming to turn the South Yarra landmark into a cultural and hospitality destination that reconnects with Chapel Street and its surrounding community.

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The developer has secured the entire 20,000-square-metre site, obtained approval for a revised masterplan and commenced construction in January 2025.

The proposal combines the site’s industrial heritage with new public spaces, dining, entertainment, hotels, wellness facilities, fashion and luxury residential living.

GURNER founder and chairman Tim Gurner said the project needed to be more than another development.

“We want people to meet here, eat here, celebrate here, bring their children here, watch movies here, stay here, live here and come back every week,” he said.

The masterplan has been developed by GURNER Group alongside global architecture practice Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Buchan. Rather than recreate a conventional enclosed shopping centre, the vision centres on a network of streets, laneways, courtyards and gathering places intended to make the precinct feel connected to South Yarra.

At its centre, a proposed Village Square would provide a new civic and cultural space, linking to Chapel Street through Kirby Lane. GURNER also plans to commission a major permanent artwork for the square, while future public programming could include markets, performances and family events.

Cobblestone laneways, mature landscaping, lighting and awnings are intended to frame smaller restaurants, wine bars, cafés, bakeries and boutique retailers. Further concepts under consideration include underground dining and live music venues, a rooftop garden destination and a major food hall bringing together fresh produce, specialty retailers and restaurants.

The site’s history is central to the proposal. Established as the Victoria Brewery in 1858, it later housed Sir Henry Jones’s IXL preserves before becoming a familiar destination for cinema, fashion and dining.

GURNER intends to retain and celebrate elements of the original industrial character, while a proposed Jam Factory Archive would bring together historical photographs, cinema memorabilia and artefacts. Melburnians would also be invited to contribute their own photographs, tickets and memories, creating a community record of the landmark.

Cinema is another part of the planned revival, with an eight-screen complex and a flagship premiere theatre proposed to bring film festivals and red-carpet events back to the site. Two hotels are also planned, including an international luxury brand that GURNER says would be the first of its kind in Australia. The operator is expected to be announced in 2027.

The scale of the proposal extends beyond the site itself. GURNER sees the redevelopment as a potential catalyst for the wider Chapel Street precinct, which the company believes could benefit from increased visitation and activity throughout the day and into the evening.

“The Jam Factory holds a special place in Melbourne’s imagination,” Gurner said. “Our ambition is to build on that extraordinary legacy and create a destination that helps define the city’s next era.”

Whether the vision delivers on that ambition will depend on how its public spaces, cultural programming and commercial attractions work together. For a site with memories spanning generations of Melburnians, its future identity will be shaped not only by what is built, but by how people use it.

Images via Gurner

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