Southbank Apartment Tower Gets Green Light
There’s been a mix of good news and bad in Southbank recently, with one major apartment tower approved, while another has been temporarily shelved.
Read moreAuthor: Marc Pallisco
Australand Lodges Plan to Build Major Suburban Office Park on Smith and Nephew Site, Clayton
AUSTRALAND has lodged plans with council to develop an $80 million business park, on the former Smith and Nephew site
Read moreFormer Tattersalls Executive Buys in Berry Street East Melbourne
Former Tattersalls chief general manager Peter Gillooly has paid around $3.6 million for a yet-to-be-constructed four-storey townhouse in East Melbourne.
Read moreGrace Antiques Armadale to Close. Site Sold For $3.6 Million
IT’s almost as old as the furniture it sells, but soon – Armadale retail institution Grace Antiques will close its
Read moreMelbourne Waterfront Property Sales Boom
Prospective buyers of waterfront homes are in luck – with luxury properties in all directions of the CBD recently being listed for sale.
Read moreFormer Evan Evan Flags Building, Elizabeth Street, Sold For $3,26 Million
A HISTORIC building at the city’s northern tip, famous for being the long-time home of Evan Evan Flags, has sold
Read moreSouthbank Penthouse Apartment to be Sold
The penthouse in what is believed to be Southbank’s first high rise apartment complex near Crown Casino, has been put to the market.
Read moreMario Salvo’s Salvest Capital Pays $15 Million For 128 Exhibition Street, Melbourne
SELF made millionaire Mario Salvo has paid $15 million for an 11-level office building, in a burgeoning pocket of the CBD.
The 128 Exhibition Street office – which failed to sell after a public campaign 18 months ago – was offloaded by AMP Capital Investors, which paid $5 million for the asset in 2000.
The building will be retained as an investment in Salvest Capital, Mr Salvo’s newly formed commercial real estate investment company, which is directed by prominent Sydney-based property executives Hamish Bowman and James Maitland.
John McMurrick profits in Toorak
Insurance executive John McMurrick has made a $1 million profit from a B-grade riverfront Toorak home held for just six
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Avon Court sets record
Former Richmond Football Club president Clinton Casey has sold Avon Court, in Hawthorn, for more than $21 million – a
Read moreRose Porteous Building Prix D’Amour in Toorak?
One of Toorak’s most exclusive streets may get its own Prix D’Amour, if rumours that Rose Porteous is planning to build her next home are correct.
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Albany Rd mansion collects $18.5m from Jayco founder
Jayco Caravans managing director Gerry Ryan is paying c$18.5 million for a Toorak mansion with no tennis court. The deal
Read moreSuburban Office Developers Told to Build Green
Suburban office developers and building owners have been warned to go green, or go broke, after a notable shift in sentiment by suburban office tenants to lease environmentally sustainable designed buildings.
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Major Harbour Planned For Melbourne’s Werribee South
ONE of Port Phillip Bay’s largest and last undeveloped sites will be transformed into a major entertainment, commercial and residential village built around a major new harbour, two beaches and a 1000 berth marina – one of the biggest in Victoria.
The state government, Wyndham City Council and the owner of Werribee South land around the proposed marina – interests associated with Melbourne’s wealthy Liberman family – are expected to unveil plans and images of Wyndham Harbour next week, according to sources.
The proposal – worth about $440 million – is said to include a hotel, retail and restaurant precinct, yacht club, apartments and detached housing.
Suburban Office Sales Boom
Three suburban office buildings in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs have been sold, or are close to sale, in deals worth more than $40 million.
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Reading Cinema Plans to Redevelop Former Moonee Ponds Market After 13 Years
AFTER 13 years, US-based cinema giant Reading is preparing to redevelop the former Moonee Ponds Market, in Dame Edna Everage’s home town.
In its most recent annual report Reading said it is finalising plans to redevelop the 3.3 hectare site, which was home to the popular market until about the mid 1990s.
A permit granted on the site in 1997 but which has lapsed, was for a 12-cinema complex.
Russell Street Shops Sells on Record Low Yield
A Russell Street shop has sold on a reportedly record low yield of 1.85 per cent.
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Walter Burley Griffin Open Day Planned
AN open day to showcase the architectural union of Walter Burley Griffin and his wife Marion Mahoney Griffin has been co-ordinated for Sunday December 6 in Melbourne.
Open for inspection will be the Langi Flats building at the northeast corner of Toorak and Lansell roads, in Toorak, Beament Residence in Kew and the Essendon Incinerator, which is actually in Moonee Ponds. These projects were built between 1924 and 1930.
Three homes around Heidelberg will also be on display, including the Roy Lippincott Residence, developed in 1917, Pholiota Griffin Residence (1922) and the Vaughan Griffin Residence (1924).
Coogi factory sold
A syndicate of private investors said to include former Collingwood footballer Damian Monkhorst is paying c$12.5 million for Richmond’s former
Read moreAnother Apartment Tower Earmarked For Behind Melbourne High School
ANOTHER week, and another high rise apartment project has been unveiled in South Yarra.
This time, the former Kookai office and warehouse at 50 Claremont Street will be demolished, and replaced with a 20-level, 188-unit apartment building, designed by architect Bird de la Coeur, with interiors by Hassell.
Many of the units in the $110 million Claremont South Yarra development will offer unobstructed city and township views over Melbourne High School.
McConnell Dowell Leases More Office Space in Hawthorn
Engineering, construction and services group McConnell Dowell has increased the amount of space it will lease at the Vantage office building at 109 Burwood Road in Hawthorn.
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Danish Club residential conversion begins
Sussan Group director Naomi Milgrom has embarked on a major renovation of the 120-year old Beaconsfield Parade property acquired from
Read moreZagame Buys West Melbourne Site
The Zagame Automotive Group has outbid developers for a prominent city-fringe development site, paying $14 million for a West Melbourne property it plans to use as a large luxury car showroom.
Read moreEx Stockland and Mirvac Exec Announces West Footscray Townhouse Project
THE man who bought high rise living to South Yarra ten years ago, and helped develop Beacon Cove in Port Melbourne, has turned his hand to another development, on West Footscray’s Stony Creek.
Former Mirvac and Stockland executive Cameron Alderson’s latest development proposal, Canopi, aims to solve housing affordability issues by offering efficiently designed townhouses on small “inner-city” size blocks of around 175 square metres.
Canopi, at the end of Lae Street, will include 43 townhouses each including three bedrooms, two bathrooms, two car spots and a rear courtyard. Kingsford Property is marketing the townhouses, which range in price from $479,000 to $550,000.
Wine Cellar For Salta Properties Mercy Hospital Redevelopment
Salta Properties is sparing no expense with its luxury redevelopment of the Mercy Hospital site in East Melbourne.
Read moreGeelong’s Yarra Street Pier Close to Redevelopment 21 Years After Fire
Plans for a $30 million pier and waterfront development in central Geelong are expected to be announced next month. Major Projects
Read moreGraham Underwood Buys Mount Hotham Home For $2 Million
Melbourne-based businessman Graham Underwood has smashed the sale price record for a house in the snow, paying $2.05 million for ‘Under the Moonlight’ – a Giovanni D’Ambrosia designed luxury cabin at Mount Hotham, described as the most dramatic snow home ever built in Australia.
Read moreCBD Student Accommodation Development Site Fetches $18 Million
PROMINENT property investor Michael Buxton has sold one of the city’s biggest student accommodation development sites for $18 million.
The 410 Elizabeth Street office building, which Mr Buxton bought off the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology five years ago for $8.25 million before obtaining a redevelopment permit, is expected to make way for a 50-level, 240-unit tower.
According to council reports, the new tower is expected to be delivered over the next three to five years.
German Based Company Leases Industrial Space at Laverton North
German-based industry products supplier EBM-PAPST Australia Pty Ltd has pre-committed to a 2000 square metre office warehouse building in Laverton North, being developed by Vaughan Constructions.
Read moreDocklands Southern Star Observation Wheel Almost Dismantled
DECONSTRUCTION of ING’s Southern Star Observation Wheel is almost complete. An ING spokeswoman told The Age Gain all outer spokes have
Read moreLast of Westpoint’s Assets Sell
The last property asset of failed developer Westpoint is believed to have sold to local private investor Harry Chua for $2.7 million.
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South Yarra’s Best Located Eyesore to be Replaced with $100 Million Tower
SOUTH Yarra’s best located eyesore may be demolished and replaced with a chic $100 million apartment tower – designed by the same architect that penned Melbourne’s distinctive Rectangular Stadium.
Little Project Developments has lodged a development application with the Stonnington City Council to build a 24-level, 350-unit apartment complex on the site of an ANZ data centre at 227 – 233 Toorak Road, near the busy Chapel Street intersection.
LPD paid ANZ about $33 million for the office in 2007, and was expected to incorporate the 1970s brick building into a new 32-level residential development, possibly adding a second tower to vacant land at the rear of the site.
Folkestone Onsells Retail Shopping Centre in Sorrento
Listed property development and investment company Folkestone is believed to have onsold a retail shopping centre it bought late last year, in the upmarket seaside town of Sorrento.
Read more$778 Million Housing Estate Fast Tracked by Planning Minister, Bacchus Marsh
PLANNING Minister Justin Madden has “fast tracked” a massive 141 hectare housing estate in Melbourne’s north-west outskirts.
The $778 million Riverside Estate, in Bacchus Marsh, has been proposed by former Victorian Football League player Stewart Gull and will include 1500 homes.
Being outside of metropolitan Melbourne, homes in the project are eligible for a taxpayer funded regional first-home buyers grant of $4,500 for supporting regional development.
Read moreRamsay Health Care May Buy Prahran Medical Centre
Meanwhile, an owner occupier is also expected to be a prominent bidder for a medical centre and large development site in Prahran, in a deal which could be worth more than $7.5 million.
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Macquarie to Sell Half Share Interest in 171 Collins Street Development to CBus
MACQUARIE Office Trust is believed to be selling a half share interest in a proposed $260 million office, in Collins Street’s “Paris end”, to CBus Property.
Sources say Macquarie will reap between $15 million and $20 million for a 50 per cent stake of the 171 Collins Street office proposal, which set a landmark planning precedent last July, by more than doubling the regulated height of a building in the “Swanston Street spine”.
Earlier this year, Macquarie lodged an application to add an 18th level to the proposed glass building, bringing the total lettable commercial and retail area to about 42,329 square metres.
Melbourne University Buys Carlton Office Building For $26.4 Million
The University of Melbourne has bought a Carlton office building it has been occupying as a tenant for 15 years, in a deal believed to be worth around $26.4 million.
Read moreBecton Sells Collins Street Office For $21 Million
BECTON Investment Management has quietly offloaded a CBD building it purchased at the peak of the market two years ago.
The 446 Collins Street office building is speculated to have sold for about $21 million, reflecting an approximate 7.1 per cent yield, based on the building’s annual net income of about $1.5 million.
Allard & Shelton directors Patrick Barnes and Joseph Walton marketed the 11-storey, 5,543 square metre office, but declined to elaborate on a buyer or price.
MAB Corporation Executives Smudge Footprint in Bundoora Development
Minister for Planning Justin Madden, and executives at developer MAB Corporation smudged themselves a permanent footprint in Bundoora this week.
Read moreFormer Northcote Bingo Centre to be Redeveloped
RECREATION spaces will make way for apartments in Northcote, again, with the suburb’s former Bingo Centre about to be redeveloped into a $25 million complex.
The Queensland-based owner of the property, Baycrown Pty Ltd, expects to start construction of the Home@Northcote development in January.
The former hall has been demolished and will make way for a 5-level complex including 55 units, seven home offices, ground floor retail and two levels of underground car parking. Century 21 is marketing the apartments which start at $294,950 with a car park.
William “Polly” Perkins Sells Bentleigh House
Football legend and broadcaster William ‘Polly’ Perkins has sold his Bentleigh family home for $670,000.
Read moreGordon Bennett Work to be Displayed in Fitzroy North Apartment Tower
ARTIST Gordon Bennett has won a non-acquisitive art award, which will see his work displayed in the vaulted foyer of a major Fitzroy North apartment building for 12 months.
Mr Bennett’s piece “Coloured People #27” was selected by Heide Museum of Modern Art director and chief executive officer, Jason Smith in an award ceremony last Tuesday.
The Roi Art Prize was initiated by developers Phillip Maynes, Don Musto and Andrew Myer, grandson of Myer founder Sidney Myer, who will build the Bird de la Coeur designed Roi apartment tower at 648A Nicholson Street – where Mr Bennett’s piece will be displayed.
Peter Hellier to Sell Montmorency Home
Having recently secured themselves one of the most luxurious homes in the north eastern suburbs, Melbourne funny man Peter Hellier and wife Bridget have put their much more modest Montmorency home on the market.
Read moreJohn Farnham sells Goornong property
John Farnham has sold a 107-hectare property north of Melbourne. Chance Lodge, on the Campaspe River in Goornong, is reported
Read moreDeveloper Buys Supersite in Parkville
A private developer has paid $7 million for a 5000 square metre development site in the inner northern suburb of Parkville.
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Nine to sell Richmond studio to Lend Lease
It may be the end of an era in Richmond, with Sydney developer Lend Lease believed to be in advanced
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MAB Corp Frontrunner to Buy Doncaster’s Eastern Golf Course For $120 Million
MAB Corporation is believed to be the mystery buyer of Doncaster’s Eastern Golf Course site.
Well placed industry sources say the St Kilda Road-based privately owned developer is the frontrunner to buy the property, after offering to pay about $120 million to secure the 47-hectare site between the Eastern Freeway and Westfield Doncaster, about 15 kilometres east of town.
The 85-year old golf course, which includes native vegetation, indigenous trees and the historic Tullamore homestead, will be vacated in about 2013, when the Club relocates to an as-yet-undeveloped course abutting the Yering Gorge, in the Yarra Valley.
After that time, the new owner is expected to redevelop the Doncaster Road site into a $1 billion village of shops, offices and apartment towers. The majority of what is now a popular 18-hole golf course is expected to be subdivided into as many as 1,000 housing lots.
More than $8 million in industrial properties have sold in the suburb of Heidelberg West
More than $8 million in industrial properties have sold in the suburb of Heidelberg West.
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Government Appoints Baulderstone to Undertake $128.5 Million Hamer Hall Renovation, Melbourne
MAJOR Projects Minister Tim Pallas has appointed construction company Baulderstone to refurbish Melbourne’s Hamer Hall.
A total of $128.5 million will be spent on acoustics, new auditorium seating and staging systems, new connections to central Melbourne, St Kilda Road and the Yarra River, new foyer spaces and stairs, better disability access, escalators and lifts.
The redevelopment is a joint venture between Arts Victoria, the Arts Centre, Major Projects Victoria and architects Ashton Raggatt McDougall.
GMH Site a Hit for Mirvac
A joint venture between Mirvac and Australian Super has reaped more than $16 million in land sales, from an office park it is developing on part of the former General Motors Holden site in Port Melbourne.
Read moreGreen, Liberman list $30m service station portfolio
Former Babcock & Brown chief Phil Green with Melbourne businessman Boris Liberman have quietly listed a $30 million portfolio of
Read moreHallmarc to Build Commercial and Residential Building in Fitzroy
Melbourne-based developer the Hallmarc Group is continuing its push into residential development, announcing plans for a $20 million mixed use commercial and residential building in Johnston Street Fitzroy.
Read moreISPT Makes $16.75 Million From Sale of Richmond Office
INDUSTRY Superannuation Property Trust has made $16.75 million from the sale of a prominent office building in Melbourne’s inner eastern
Read moreChapel Street Retail Shop Sold
An undisclosed private investor has paid $2.66 million for a Chapel Street shop, bringing the value of shops sold in the popular retail strip recently to almost $20 million.
Read moreProminent Site Opposite Victoria Gardens, Richmond, to be Developed at Last
SALTA Properties is looking to develop one of the several properties it owns around the busy corner of Victoria and Burnley streets, at the suburb border of Richmond and Abbotsford.
The Yarra City Council has granted Salta approval to build a $100 million apartment and townhouse project between 10 – 30 Burnley Street Richmond, and opposite the Burnley Street entrance of the Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre, which Salta owns with Centro Properties Group.
The aplacetolive.com.au development will include 355 apartments across a suite of individual buildings with distinct identities: Jade at 10 Burnley Street, Ruby at 20 Burnley Street, Ivory at 28 Burnley Street and Sienna at 30 Burnley Street.
Macquarie Buys 71 Queens Road Office Building
A Macquarie trust is believed to have paid just over $25 million for the former Zurich office building at 71 Queens Road.
Read moreIndustrial Properties Sell in Heidelberg West
More than $8 million in industrial properties have sold in the suburb of Heidelberg West.
Read moreBradmill site earmarked for $900m village
A master-planned village which could have product worth $900 million upon completion is earmarked for Yarraville’s former Bradmill factory. Planning
Read moreProperty Fraternity Football Match
Wannabe footballers from some of Melbourne’s biggest commercial agencies and developers braved icy conditions to play for the Hawthorn Football Club Fantasy Cup, in front of an estimated 43,000 people at the Hawthorn-Sydney clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last Sunday.
Read moreNine revisiting sale and lease plan
The on-again-off-again campaign to relocate GTV Nine from its long time 22 Bendigo Street headquarters, may be on again. Sources say
Read moreFord’s Geelong Engine Plant Could Fetch $20 Million
Ford Motor Company Australia’s engine plant could fetch around $20 million as a retail development site.
Read moreVilla Maria Pays $8.75 Million For Camberwell Development Site
NOT for profit organisation and retirement village specialist Villa Maria has paid $8.75 million for a 6,215 square metre Camberwell development site.
The 450 Camberwell Road property was sold with a permit for a 64-unit retirement village, capitalising on the site’s other street frontages to Athelstan Road, and Bowen Street, opposite the Camberwell Central Bowling Club.
Nichols Crowder director Matt Nichols sold the Camberwell property on behalf of the Macquarie affiliated Retirement Villages Group. Buildings on the site were once used by the Salvation Army. RVG recently sold a slice of the land to another aged care developer.
Pratt Family’s Investment Vehicle to Redevelop California Hotel Site, Hawthorn, Into Aged Care Facility
THE development company of Melbourne’s wealthy Pratt family has won approval from the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to redevelop Hawthorn’s prominent California Hotel site, into a $42 million aged care facility.
Thorney Holdings, the Pratt family’s investment vehicle, will demolish buildings on the 138 Barkers Road site, opposite Xavier College’s Jackson Oval, and replace it with a 5-level, 85-unit facility with basement car parking.
The development will replace the 82-room California Hotel facility, which was built over the Barkly train station, which closed in 1957 according to council records.
Myer Family Member Turns Property Developer
In an interesting twist this week, a member of the Myer family has emerged as a joint developer of a The Well, a 7-storey mixed use building in Camberwell.
Read moreEaglemont Office Sells For $11.35 Million
THE suburban office opposite two billabongs, a pond, Yarra Flats and the Yarra River – has sold to a private investor for $11.35 million.
The modest single-level 3,216 square metre office at 677 The Boulevard, in Heidelberg’s ritzy pocket of Eaglemont, is leased to charity group Berry Street Victoria until 2018.
Based on the building’s current annual rent of $951,000, Colliers International selling agent Peter Bremner said the property sold on a yield of 8.38 per cent.
Cheltenham Development Site Sells
An undisclosed local developer has paid $8.25 million for two development sites adjoining Cheltenham’s only high rise office building on the Nepean Highway.
Read moreSupermarket Built Into The Walls of Melbourne’s Former Bullring, Expected to Fetch $14 Million
THE supermarket and office complex built into the walls and roof of Fitzroy’s former Latino dance mecca, the Bullring, has quietly been listed for tender, and is expected to fetch about $14 million.
Icon Constructions redeveloped the former club into a major supermarket and office complex, with a 136-bay car park. Beller Commercial’s Fred Nucara is marketing the property with Vinci Carbone. Coles contributes to 73 per cent of the building’s annual $953,000 rent.
Channel Nine Sale May Happen Next Year
The much hyped sale process of Channel Nine’s Richmond studio is no closer to starting, with some industry players now saying it won’t be sold until next year.
Read moreGlobal Campus Management Administration Leaves Half a Docklands Office Building Vacant
ALMOST half of an unfinished Docklands office building will be offered for lease, after education service provider Global Campus Management – which agreed to lease space at 717 Bourke Street to accommodate fashion university ESMOD – went into voluntary administration last Thursday.
ESMOD was to have occupied 18,000 square metres of the distinctive 37,000 square metre building which will also be home to petroleum giant BP upon completion in July next year.
GCM is a minority shareholder in the Bourke Street building, on the south-west corner of Wurundjeri Way, which was developed by Babcock & Brown and architect Metier 3.
FKP Builds Develops Green Project in Phillip Island
More than 90 per cent of the first stage of developer FKP’s Shearwater development on Phillip Island has been tagged for sale, less than a week after its official launch.
Read moreWadhawan Group’s Construction Company, DEC, Arrives in Melbourne
VICTORIAN planning minister Justin Madden will exit a parliamentary sitting later this month to welcome Indian billionaire Rakesh Wadhawan’s property development business to Melbourne.
Mr Madden is one of several special guests confirmed to attend the lavish company launch at Crown Palladium on November 11, joining former sporting great Steve Waugh, who is rumoured to be attending, and members of the Victorian Bushrangers and New Zealand cricket teams, which Mr Wadhawan’s construction company, DEC, now sponsors.
Luxury Apartment Project for Caulfield North
Prominent real estate turned property developer Henry Birner has unveiled plans for a $30 million luxury apartment complex in Caulfield North.
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Clinton Casey’s Outgoing Avon Court Mansion, Hawthorn, Expected to Set New Price Record
FORMER Richmond Football club president Clinton Casey can expect to make about $16 million from the sale of his Avon Court mansion, in Melbourne’s ritzy eastern suburb of Hawthorn – setting a new price record for the suburb.
The 4,645 square metre estate includes a 4-storey historic and heritage protected mansion, swimming pool and tennis court.
Mr Casey paid $5.7 million for the property in 2003 before undertaking a major renovation.
Read moreRose Porteous Sells Luxury Toorak Penthouse
Melbourne socialite Rose Porteous has sold the second of her twin Toorak penthouses, just 18 months after buying them. The properties are just a few hundred metres from a site Rose is rumoured to be developing into a new home.
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Google to Re-Drive Australia’s Capital City Streets This Summer
MOW your lawns, prune your gardens – and don’t park your car where it shouldn’t be seen – for the summer of 2010 anyway.
Google, the online resource which through its Google Maps and Street View functions has attracted a swarm of real estate voyeurs globally – will re-drive the streets of metropolitan capital cities this summer including Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and parts of Tasmania.
Film Director Buys Luxury City Apartment
Award winning film director Frank Schepisi has quietly been undertaking some property plays in Melbourne.
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High Rise Apartments Planned For Prominent Site, Opposite Flemington Racecourse Entrance
FOR the week of the Spring Racing Carnival, it’s arguably Melbourne’s busiest roundabout.
But when revellers return to the races next year – things could very different at the frantic intersection of Ascot Vale, Epsom and Racecourse roads, near the main Flemington Racecourse entrance.
The owner of the prominent 1 Ascot Vale Road site, Flemington Development Company, is preparing to lodge plans to develop an environmentally sustainable 20-level apartment tower, on what is now the Racecourse Tavern, Epsom Bistro, a bottle shop, motel and car park.
Swan Street Office Showroom with Development Potential Sells
An undisclosed private investor has paid $3.1 million for a showroom and office building with redevelopment potential in Swan Street Richmond.
Read moreChinese government buys $7m Toorak house
THE People’s Republic of China has emerged as the buyer of a brand new, 80 square Toorak mansion.
It’s speculated an education division of the Chinese government will use the new four-storey, six bedroom mansion for administrative and teaching purposes, and to accommodate ambassadors – but this could not be confirmed with the consulate, which failed to return numerous calls.
