Lincraft buys massive warehouse in Melbourne’s west
FABRIC store retailer Lincraft has paid $6.5 million for an office warehouse at Derrimut’s Gilbertson Industrial Estate.
The 2.53 hectare site at 60 Fulton Drive includes buildings containing 9114 square metres of area.
It sold with a short term lease to distribution company Axima.
Lincraft, which was in receivership just six years ago, before being bought out, will owner occupy the western suburb site, ending a search that saw it inspect office/warehouse across metropolitan Melbourne.
“It’s been many years since a property of this quality was offered for sale to an owner occupier within the Gilbertson Estate,” said Colliers International agent Nathan Bingham, who sold the site with Tony Iuliano
The property was advertised as having the potential for future building development. It was offloaded by syndicate Australian Property Growth Syndicate No 19, controlled by the Australian Property Growth Fund.
Elsewhere in Derrimut recently, a 4.5 hectare office warehouse site at 290 Boundary Road sold for $11.7 million. Within the Gilbertson estate, a prominent development site at 128 Swann Street, backing onto the new Deer Park Bypass, also recently sold for $2.2 million.
Colliers International says the Lincraft deal was the tenth major owner-occupier purchase in the western suburbs, in the past 12 months.
In 2005, businessmen Brian Swersky and John Maguire outmuscled 50 venture capital firms, private equity groups and rival retailers, to purchase the fabrics retail business, Lincraft, which collapsed with bank liabilities of $10 million, and owing $5 million in staff entitlements.
The businessmen were responsible for rescuing discount retailer Dimmeys from closure ten years earlier.
They sold their interest in Dimmeys just before buying Lincraft.
Dimmeys new owners have since been disposing property assets. The most prominent site sold is the Swan Street, Richmond, store, now earmarked for apartments.
Since being taken over, Lincraft has rolled out new stores, expanded its homewares and launched a major online store.
