Construction of Melbourne's groundbreaking supportive housing project for some of Victoria's most vulnerable and chronically homeless people is ahead of schedule, Victorian Government Housing Minister Richard Wynne announced today.

Visiting the Common Ground site in Elizabeth St in central Melbourne with project partners Grocon, HomeGround and Yarra Community Housing, Mr Wynne said he was pleased to see the project had reached the top of its 11 storeys.

"The Victorian Labor Government is committed to putting a roof over the head of our most vulnerable people in Victoria," Mr Wynne said. "As important as this is, it is also vital that we provide people with the services they need to have a better future."

"The Common Ground approach was pioneered in North America and recognises people need a stable and affordable home first, followed by an integrated support network that tackles the reasons that led them to become homeless in the first place.

"The project will provide more than 160 new affordable homes for homeless and lower-income people and today I would like to thank the subcontractors, suppliers and consultants involved, many of whom have supplied their services on a pro-bono or at cost basis, delivering millions of dollars in savings for the project."

Member for Melbourne Bronwyn Pike said the Elizabeth Street Common Ground project was a partnership between the Victorian and Federal Governments, not-for-profit housing association Yarra Community Housing, HomeGround Services and construction company Grocon.

"This is an exciting project that breaks new ground in providing services for Melbourne's most vulnerable people,"Ms Pike said.

Grocon CEO Daniel Grollo said the project was ahead of schedule.

"We been heartened by the response from our regular subcontractors, suppliers and consultants, who have been keen to contribute to this project," he said. "We have managed to deliver significant savings on Common Ground, money which will in turn be put towards other projects to try and assist people out of the cycle of homelessness."

Mr Grollo said the Elizabeth Street project had also been a great learning experience for Grocon staff, who were catering for a vulnerable client group of whom they had little experience.

"In terms of what we are hopefully contributing to the community, and also in terms of the development of our staff, this project has been one of the most rewarding we have ever done," he said.

The Victorian Labor Government has committed $37.2 million in capital funding to Elizabeth Street Common Ground and more than $920,000 in annual funding for onsite support services.

The Federal Government has contributed $12.3 million from the A Place to call Home initiative towards construction costs, while Grocon agreed to build the project on a zero profit, zero margin basis.

Funding for the Elizabeth Street Common Ground project also includes $2.9 million from the Victorian Property Fund to incorporate the latest environmentally sustainable design features into the new building, such as grey water management and a solar-boosted hot water supply.

The project will be owned and managed by Yarra Community Housing, with support services to tenants provided by HomeGround.

Grocon

Grocon

Grocon is a privately owned Australian construction, development and funds management company, started by Luigi Grollo in Melbourne in the 1950s. The current CEO is his grandson, Daniel Grollo, and the company has expanded during the past 50 years to Sydney and Brisbane, and also has an office in Dubai in the Middle East. It has built many iconic structures throughout Australia, such as the 300 metre tall Eureka Tower in Melbourne. Grocon has recently completed a carbon neutral building called Pixel, believed to be the first of its kind in the world. It is also constructing facilities for the chronically homeless in Australia's eastern states, in partnership with the not for profit sector, based on the Common Ground model which originated in New York.

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