A block of older style Camberwell flats - which the local council unsuccessfully tried to have heritage protected earlier this year - has sold to Burbank which is planning townhouses.

Kaydon Court, on 4805 square metres at 1 Cooloongatta Road, is setting the builder back a speculated $13.6 million.

The vendor paid $10.5m in 2019.

It was held by a local family for 67 years before that.

Burbank is acquiring the property via its Urban division; settlement is scheduled for the end of next year with construction expected to begin in 2023.

In January, the developer banked c$30m offloading its historic CBD headquarters, 100 Franklin Street, to Landream which recently won permission to incorporate it into a 41 storey Build to Rent tower. Days are numbered for garden apartments.

Fifty metres from Riversdale Rd, which is also the Canterbury border, Kaydon Court contains several low-rise buildings constructed in the 1950s around gardens and a winding driveway.

The complex was designed by Mussen Mackay and Potter, also responsible for the city’s Hosies Hotel at 1 Elizabeth St.

The Camberwell site’s development attributes are relatively limited given easements running across it.

Burbank Urban is proposing premium quality townhouses; given the land’s Neighbourhood Residential zoning, they could rise two storeys.

"The acquisition is aligned with Burbank Urban's strategy of securing infill development sites within Melbourne's inner and middle ring suburbs close to established amenities, services and transport," General Manager Ilya Iliadis said.

"Burbank Urban is committed to working closely with the council and local residents to ensure a development outcome that leaves a positive and lasting legacy of quality, design and innovation," he added.

The deal comes two months since Hacer, backed by Time & Place, outlaid $25m for a 2090 sqm Camberwell site in the Burke Rd retail strip permit-ready for a seven level apartment building with lower-level retail and offices.

Also in October, an offshore apartment builder paid $9.7m for a 1698 sqm block - formerly part of Erasmus College - at 43 Riversdale Rd, Hawthorn. Five weeks ago, a 1592 sqm parcel at 336-338 Riversdale Rd, Hawthorn East, traded for $7.5m to a developer builder with plans for a luxury residential complex.