Apple’s Melbourne Federal Square Flagship Store Application for Demolition Revoked

Image: ABC News Australia

A proposal to demolish the Melbourne Federal Square has been recently revoked by Heritage Victoria. Apple came up with an idea to open a flagship Apple Store in Melbourne, Australia, but the historical authorities have said that the demolition can’t be done due to the square’s heritage.

Last Friday, on the 29th of March, Apple’s proposal to demolish the Yarra Building of the Melbourne Federal Square has been revoked. Victorian Government declared that Apple can’t go any further with the development of the flagship Apple Store in Australia, due to historical factors.

According to the statement from Apple, it states that:

"While we are disappointed we're no longer able to pursue our plan for Federation Square, we remain committed to serving our customers in Melbourne and across Australia."

In its decision, Heritage Victoria said it had refused the application because it would cause "an unacceptable and irreversible detrimental impact on the cultural heritage significance of Federation Square.” Apple’s main purpose of building the store is to boost the revenue of the Federal Square.

On the other hand, the Andrews Government felt the same way as the Victorian Government did. They angered when Apple approved a plan to build a flagship store on the site. The Andrews Government considered the site as a “cultural precinct” instead of having it as a “commercial space”.

Besides the reasons why they revoked the proposal, it ruined the reputation of Victoria. Victorian Opposition spokesman considered the upcoming Apple flagship store a “disastrous deal” because there are too many big companies attempting to modify or demolish the Yarra building in the Federal Square. The building has many historical aspects in its design, and the Victorian Government can’t ruin it.

On the contrary, it’s not good for Apple to feel bad about building a flagship store in such a historical site. The Victorian Opposition board has said that the building’s historical characteristics can’t be ruined, so that’s why they revoked many proposals to prevent the building from getting modified or demolished.