Australian Red Cross offers c$40 million former Carlton HQ
The Australian Red Cross (ARC) is following through on a national property divestment program – this time listing two adjoining sites in Carlton, 500 metres north of the Melbourne CBD.
ARC owner-occupied the buildings as its Victorian headquarters before recently relocating to 47 Villiers Street, North Melbourne.
The Carlton assets at 163-175 Bouverie Street and 147-155 Pelham Street are configured with two functional offices containing a total lettable area of 2700 square metres and substantial basement car parking.
It would be the land, however – 2038 sqm of it – which will put the offering on the radar of the best paying developers.
Outside of the CBD, Carlton commands some of Melbourne’s highest property prices.
CBRE isn’t attaching a value to the ARC Carlton offerings, but industry sources are tipping they will sell for a total of about $40 million.
Developers tipped to outmuscle investors for ARC’s Carlton portfolio
CBRE Josh Rutman said the ARC’s holding has 90 metres of street frontage.
Mr Rutman is marketing the properties with colleagues Mark Wizel, Julian White and Lewis Tong and Colliers International’s Guy Wells, Oliver Hay, Trent Hobart and Daniel Wolman.
Matthew Berg from Partner Developments is the transaction manager overseeing an expressions of interest campaign, closing on November 22.
Mr White said interest is anticipated from a broad range of buyer groups
The broker expects buyer interest to be underpinned “by the favourable outlook for Melbourne’s student accommodation and office markets and by the green shoots emerging in the residential sector”.
“The University of Melbourne and RMIT both have a large and growing proportion of international students – at 36 per cent and 38 per cent respectively – requiring nearby accommodation,” Mr White said.
Mr Wells added that Scape and Cedar Pacific are completing projects in the area.
Additionally, the agents said, with office vacancy rates are at historic lows, enhancing the income generating potential of the current improvements is an option prospective purchasers might consider.
“The addition of the soon to be completed Parkville Train Station, only a couple of hundred metres away, will further enhance the connectivity and popularity of the location.”
Australian Red Cross CEO Judy Slatyer said; “The Carlton properties are in a high value and strategic location and selling them allows us to reinvest for the long-term, in support of our work”.
“This move is part of a national property masterplan that releases value from several key properties and allows us to work in locations that best serve the people who use them, from clients and partners to staff and volunteers.”
Also this month ARC listed for sale a three-level office in Milton, about 1.2 kilometres from the Brisbane CBD.
