In 1835, John Batman, one of Melbourne’s founders, built his home upon the site where the Grand stands today. By 1840, Batman had died and the Government occupied his land to administer the fledgling colony of Melbourne from that location.
In 1851 the population of Melbourne was about 29,000 … and then the gold rush began!
The sudden wealth transformed a small town into a frantic world centre, and in 1854 Australia’s first railway line was opened between Flinders Street and Sandridge (now Port Melbourne). By 1861, Melbourne was a city of 125,000 people, and gas street lighting, regular piped water and solid buildings gave the city a more permanent appearance. Rail networks started radiating out of Melbourne to its regional towns and ports.
The railways offered the only means of reliable mechanised transport and became the largest employer in the state. In 1886, the powerful railways commissioners decided that their wooden offices were inadequate and plans for the new Victorian Railways Administrative Offices were drawn up. The massive task of construction was completed in 1893, and the new office building was then the largest in Melbourne.
In 1985, after 92 years in what is now the Grand, Victorian Railways moved to a larger office building in Collins Street. Various plans to convert the Grand building into a casino, artists’ colony or cultural club rooms failed to materialise, and the building became derelict. There were efforts to make it a Japanese-owned hotel, then just apartments, serviced apartments then finally a mixed dwelling of apartments and hotel suites as it is today.
In 1993, Sam Pennisi of First National Real Estate commenced marketing apartments in the building for Bluespure, the developers. The apartments sold well, with Level 1 being sold out by December of that year—the first marketing brochure is available here (warning: it’s 8MB in size). With the Postcode 3000 program in full swing, other ‘new’ apartment blocks were being built in the city. Ray White and PRD Real Estate joined in marketing, but stringent requirements from lenders meant there were insufficient sales to progress the development at that time.
In 1996, a consortium of companies (Abi Group, Salzer Constructions, Abbey Stone among others) started work to restore the building back to all its glory at a cost of over $35m. The building was opened by the Rt Hon Jeff Kennett, then Premier of Victoria, in October 1997. The Grand is now listed on the Victorian Heritage database because it is considered to be of special value for the present community and for future generations.
Today, of over 200 apartments, the Grand Hotel leases 97 suites in the building. You can see the Grand's beauty in the 'TV trip' video:
See also Location sub-menu at left.