Government sells city site to Clement Lee
Clement Lee has paid an as-yet-undisclosed sum for a riverside piece of the city. It is the second deal with
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Victoria
Lend Lease to build strata office complex at Docklands
SYDNEY based developer Lend Lease is set to develop a strata office building in Melbourne’s Docklands.
The $70 million project – Lifestyle Working Collins Street – will measure 9500 square metres and include 137 suites ranging in size between 48 and 123 square metres.
The complex, with a street address of 838 Collins Street, will include shared meeting spaces for occupants to share.
Read moreBuilder Buys Industrial Development Site, Derrimut, Melbourne
MELBOURNE based builder Property Investment Trust plans to build a 10,000 square metre distribution warehouse at the Gilbertson Industrial Estate,
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Deka Immobilien Investment to Pay $118 Million For South Wharf Office, Melbourne
GERMAN pension fund Deka Immobilien Investment is reportedly paying $118 million for the South Wharf Commercial tower in Docklands.
The sale, reflecting a yield of about 7.75 per cent, ends a saga to sell the office that has lingered since just before the economic downturn, in late 2007.
The office is part of the $750 million South Wharf precinct which also includes retail, residential and a hotel component. The office was sold by private developer Austexx, which owns the DFO chain, which is also for sale.
Read moreEliza Park Aged Care Facility, Mt Eliza, Sells For $2.2 Million
MORNINGTON Peninsula’s Eliza Park aged care facility sold to a private investor for $2.155 million. The 46-bed facility is near
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Westpac, KPMG to Release Major Melbourne CBD Office Leasing Requirements
CORPORATE tenants Westpac and KPMG are expected to announce major Melbourne CBD office leasing requirements.
Bank Westpac is understood to be in the market for between 16,000 and 18,000 square metres of space. It’s currently based at the Dexus owned 360 Collins Street.
Consultancy KPMG is currently at 161 Collins Street, distinguished in the Melbourne CBD as having one of the largest single-level floorplates available.
Read moreBecton sells funds management business
BECTON Property Group has sold its funds management business to Sydney-based 360 Capital Group, in a deal speculated to be worth no more than $5 million.
Below is a statement Becton released about the transaction:
Read moreFormer VFL Footballer Richard Osborne to Sell Middle Park Home
FORMER Fitzroy Football Club Captain Richard Osborne and his wife Natalie have sidelined plans to extend a quaint Middle Park home.
The Osborne’s are now disposing of the Harold Street property – a four-bedroom single-level cottage, a short torpedo’s distance from Beaconsfield Parade and the Middle Park Beach
The couple purchased the home, on a 260 square metre block, four years ago, before obtaining a permit for a contemporary Nicholas Murray Architects extension and renovation. The house is being sold with plans to convert the existing cottage into a four-bedroom plus study showpiece with a rooftop deck capturing water and city views.
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Prominent Brighton Mansion, Former Home of Olympian Ron Clarke, Could Set Suburban Record
A prominent Brighton home once owned by Olympian turned Gold Coast Mayor, Ron Clarke has hit the market and may set a new price record for the ritzy bayside suburb.
The spectacular Spanish Mission style mansion at 1 Bay Street is expected to sell for about $15 million – either as a renovation rescue or an apartment development site.
At this kind of money, the six bedroom 1920s home on a 1933 square metre block, could surpass the $15.5 million suburban record set last July when property developer Mario Salvo purchased a modern waterfront home in Glyndon Avenue.
Bettina Liano lists Melbourne pad
Bettina Liano is selling in South Yarra after two and a half years. The designer and entrepreneur’s 48 Kensington Road
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Chris Tarrant and Wife Lauren to Auction Armadale Home Today
AFL footballer Chris Tarrant may be returning to Victoria to see out the rest of his career wearing a black-and-white Guernsey for Collingwood.
But the renowned forward has chosen not to live at the Armadale address he previously used as his Melbourne base – and will instead auction that property today.
Tarrant and his wife, model Lauren Strauss, can expect about $4 million, sources say, from the sale of the Adelaide Street house, which is near the High Street shops and the suburb border of Toorak and Malvern.
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Melbourne’s Newest Suburb is Rezoned: Taylors Hill West
HAVING built a freeway to Caroline Springs to help ease newfound traffic congestion, the government has now rezoned a major tract of western suburb land to make more efficient use of the existing infrastructure.
Planning Minister Justin Madden this week approved for the residential redevelopment of 220 hectares abutting the north-western edge of the fully developed Caroline Springs housing estate, about 23 kilometres from town.
The affected land is bordered by Beattys Road to the north, Taylors Road to the south and high voltage transmission lines to the west.
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Melbourne’s Newest Suburb is Rezoned: Taylors Hill West
HAVING built a freeway to Caroline Springs to help ease newfound traffic congestion, the government has now rezoned a major tract of western suburb land to make more efficient use of the existing infrastructure.
Planning Minister Justin Madden this week approved for the residential redevelopment of 220 hectares abutting the north-western edge of the fully developed Caroline Springs housing estate, about 23 kilometres from town.
The affected land is bordered by Beattys Road to the north, Taylors Road to the south and high voltage transmission lines to the west.
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Mario Salvo to Sell 128 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, After a Year
HIGH rise apartment developer Mario Salvo has decided to sell a CBD office investment he purchased at a low point in the commercial property market last year.
Mr Salvo can expect around $17.5 million, sources say, for the 38-year old, 11-level, 4781 square metre office at 128 Exhibition Street. He paid AMP Henderson Global Investors $15 million for the asset last October.
The building is opposite what was the Southern Cross Hotel, which has been recently been redeveloped into a high rise compound with a new retail laneway and offices off both Exhibition and Bourke streets.
John Sands Sells Clayton North Headquarters, Melbourne, For $10 Million
GREETING card company John Sands is believed to have pocketed about $10 million from the sale of its outgoing head office and former manufacturing plant in Clayton North.
On almost four hectares and with a 235 metre frontage to busy Clayton Road, the Business 3 zoned land included six buildings with about 20,000 square metres of office and warehouse space.
Vinci Carbone director’s Frank Vinci and Joseph Carbone acted for John Sands selling the Clayton North property. It sold to a partial, and as yet undisclosed owner occupier represented by Savills Lynton Williams.
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Former PM Residence, St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Listed For Sale
ONE of the few remaining historic mansions in Melbourne’s grand St Kilda Road is being offered for sale – but its fate – as a luxury home, or as an equally lavish office – is now in the hands of whoever waves the biggest cheque.
The prominent Airlie mansion at 452 St Kilda Road, on the north-west corner of Arthur Street was once occupied by Prime Minister Stanley Bruce whose Nationalist-Country coalition governed the country between 1923 – 1929.
Built in 1891, Airlie was eminent during a period St Kilda Road was revered as the address of Melbourne’s wealthiest aristocrats and where some of the city’s most grandiose residential real estate was developed.
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Mulpha to Reap $120 Million From Melbourne Airport Hilton Hotel
MALAYSIA-based Mulpha Australia has listed its Melbourne Airport Hilton Hotel.
The 276-room low rise motel, opposite Melbourne Airport’s main terminal, is expected to sell for about $120 million as an investment. Mulpha purchased the hotel in 2004, as part of a portfolio offered by Principal Hotel Group.
The hotel includes 16 conference rooms, a gym, restaurant and swimming pool.
Read moreAustralia Post Hopes to Make $21m From Sale of Ex Port Melbourne Logistics Centre
AUSTRALIA Post is hoping to achieve a price of about $21 million from the sale of a city fringe bulky goods asset, that was once owner occupied by the government arm.
Bunnings has refurbished the 10,600 square metre building, on a 3.3 hectare block and signed a 12 year lease. CB Richard Ellis is the marketing agent.
Previously, Australia Post used the 501 Williamstown Road facility as a logistics centre.
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Don Ravida lists Toorak mansion
Don Ravida is selling a new build at 8 Maxwell Court, Toorak. The four bedroom residence, which his building company
Read moreAged Care Village Replaces Melbourne Commonwealth Village Apartment Block, Parkville
WHILE attention has focussed recently on the New Delhi Commonwealth Games Village site, builder LU Simon has been refitting part of the 2006 former Melbourne village into a luxury retirement living complex.
The $23 million redevelopment has seen the Parkville site, at Cade Way rebuilt as Mercy Place Apartments a high end development with 52 units configured as one, two and three bedroom flats.
Residents must be 65 years or older to buy into Mercy Place Apartments. The complex includes an internet kiosk and rooftop entertaining and function room with a city skyline backdrop.
Read moreFormer home of Sir Owen Dixon Subdivided, Offered For Sale
ANOTHER block of land in Hawthorn East’s ritzy Harcourt precinct has been sliced and diced.
This time, at 4 Higham Road, an estate that was formerly home to Hawthorn born chief justice of Australia Sir Owen Dixon has been split into nine blocks.
Two of the blocks measuring 615 square metres have now been listed for sale with an asking price of $1.4 million. The vendor is esteemed senior counsel John H Karkar QC.
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Becton sells Melbourne office
EAST Melbourne based developer and fund manager Becton is understood to have sold another office asset, this time in the CBD.
Becton is speculated to have reaped about $18 million from the sale of 422 Little Collins Street. On that assumed figure, the group made a loss on the $22.2 million it paid Vicland for the asset four years ago.
The eight-level, 5246 square metre building is 98 per cent leased, with education service provider Cambridge International College the largest tenant. The asset returned almost $1.7 million per annum in rent, and is understood to have sold to a private investor.
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MAB Sells NewQuay Shops, Docklands
MAB Corporation has sold two retail investments at its NewQuay precinct of Docklands for a total of $3.875 million.
The biggest premises at 24 NewQuay Promenade measures 427 square metres (about the size of four standard shops) and is leased to Metro Real Estate which pays a current rent of $255,000 per annum.
On that basis the $3.55 million sale price reflects a yield of 7.2 per cent.
A second and much smaller retail premises at 7 Caravel Lane sold for $325,000 and on a yield of 6.3 per cent.
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Major Development Site in Canterbury’s Maling Road Hits Market
SHOPPERS at Canterbury’s quaint Maling Road shopping strip might find it harder to snare a car park, with a number of local, interstate and international developers set to swell in the area in coming weeks.
A major 1708 square metre development site with a 57 metre frontage to Maling Road has hit the market and is expected to sell for about $4 million, and make way for a mixed use complex.
The property is being offloaded by the second generation and retiring owner of the Bradshaws of Canterbury Auto Services workshop, which has operated from 87 – 101 Maling Road for 50 years.
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Bayles, Menzies Families to Sell Nagambie Estates
ESTABLISHMENT family the Bayles are selling a luxury estate on the Goulburn River in Nagambie, about a two hour drive north of Melbourne.
The 946-hectare property, configured as three major conjoined blocks, is known as Chatsworth Park and has been owned by the Bayles family since 1948 as a productive holding.
Bound by the river, Hughes Creek and Newnhams Road (which runs parallel with the Goulburn Valley Highway and Mitchellstown Road), Chatsworth Park includes a 1932 English Tudor style homestead (pictured) with oak detailing and lead lighting, designed by architect Robert Hamilton, whose work is also found in the Toorak Village.
The homestead is surrounded by a pool, tennis court and an expansive garden with rose gardens, cypress hedges and a historic avenue of peppercorn trees.
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Developer Pays $17 Million At Auction For Dandenong South Industrial Site
A LOCAL developer has paid $17 million at auction for a major development site in Dandenong South – the heart of industrial activity in Melbourne’s south-east.
Three bidders competed to buy the 32 hectare site, which has a massive 501 metre frontage to the busy Frankston Dandenong Road and is near the Thompson Road junction of Eastlink.
The site was marketed as an opportunity to own and masterplan a major industrial subdivision. Industrial zoned land in the south-east is more limited than in the western and northern suburbs, which is why land values and rents are higher.
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CBUS Property Buys Former North Brighton Croquet Club
CBUS Property, a subsidiary of industry superannuation fund CBUS, has seized control of one of bayside Melbourne’s most controversial development sites – the disused North Brighton Croquet Club, in Warleigh Grove.
CBus, which represents workers in the construction and building industry, has paid $18.6 million for the 9015 square metre site and, having grabbed the mallet proverbially, immediately pitched plans to build a high-end, high-density residential complex with flats and townhouses.
The completed product could have an end value of more than $150 million, sources speculate, making it one of the biggest projects to start construction in Melbourne’s bayside suburbs.
Read moreVicTrack Readying to Redevelop Major Wodonga Site
THE Victorian state government’s development arm, VicTrack, is rerouting rail tracks in Wodonga, at the New South Wales state border.
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Woolworths pays $21m for North Melbourne sites
Woolworths has paid $21 million for two neighbouring North Melbourne blocks. The sites – 2-24 Vaughan Terrace (which spreads 3066
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Clement Lee’s Riverlea to Build Apartment Complex at 108 Flinders Street Melbourne
HERITAGE Victoria noted artwork at the ground level of a nondescript, low-rise office building at 108 Flinders Street will be moved, and reinstalled into the ground level of the city’s next major apartment building.
Fender Katsalidis Architects, a boutique architect collaboration headed by designers Karl Fender and Nonda Katsalidis, have proposed a new tower for the site which would offer views of Birrarung Marr, Federation Square and the Flinders Street rail yards – another city site earmarked for redevelopment.
Rising 12 levels, and due for completion in 2012 the development will include 189 apartments starting at $345,000 for a one bedroom unit and $535,000 for a two bedroom flat.
The proposal will see a new restaurant built at the end of AC/DC Lane, which this site backs onto.
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Preston’s Oakover Hall Mansion, North of Melbourne, Listed For Sale
PRESTON’s landmark Oakover Hall at 12 Stafford Street will be offered for sale for the first time in 53 years.
The six bedroom, double storey bluestone and brick home, completed in 1849 and owned by just four families, was built on a hilltop adjoining the Merri Creek (on an approximate 140 hectare estate which has since been subdivided and sold) and offers 360 degree views.
Original features of the National Trust protected mansion include interior arches dividing 12 main rooms, fireplaces, timber balustrades, and a leadlight window on the staircase landing.
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Pakenham Racecourse Site to Fetch More Than $40 Million
THE Pakenham Racing Club is expecting about $40 million from the sale of its prominent but outgoing Pakenham Racecourse & Showground site in Melbourne’s outer south-east.
The club is moving to a 243-hectare purpose built facility with an event centre and night race-appropriate lighting at Tynong, some 16 kilometres east of Pakenham past Nar Nar Goon.
Construction of the new facility is expected to start in August 2013, and after the sale of the Club’s existing 25.85 hectare complex abutting the Pakenham train station and near the suburb’s town centre.
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Former Toll Holdings Chairman to Sell Seymour Thoroughbred Facility
FORMER Toll Holdings chairman Peter Rowsthorn and trainer Dale Sutton are selling a thoroughbred racing, training and breeding property about eight kilometres north of Seymour.
Wadham Park Seymour was initially offered for sale by tender as a whole in March but is now being sold in two parts – to satisfy the two types of buyers that came forward during that campaign.
Lot A is spread over 101.5 hectares on the corner of Northwood Road and Johnsons Lane and is fitted out as a superior grade thoroughbred facility with stables, a 100-metre horse walker, vet facilities, an office, billabong and 1400 metre sand training track. Homes for the owner and manager, as well as work cottages are offered in Lot A which is expected to sell for about $3 million
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Coles Group Buys Piece of Major Brighton Mixed Use Village, Melbourne
WESFARMERS owned Coles Group is speculated to be paying around $13 million for an as-yet-undeveloped, approximate 4200 square metre supermarket in the ritzy Bay Street, Brighton retail strip.
Sources say Coles is purchasing the space off ASX listed Abacus Property Group, which is proposing a mixed use village for the site on the south-west corner of Male Street.
The property, for a couple of years now a block of dirt behind a fence, was earmarked for a $38 million office and retail complex, however it’s understood a new complex with a residential component is now proposed.
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Former Williamstown Post and Telegraph Office to be Sold as an Investment
A 151-year old pub, believed to be one of Williamstown’s oldest surviving public buildings, is being sold as an investment.
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Costa Property Group Teams with Integrated Development to Deliver $40 Million Village Near Geelong
GEELONG identity Frank Costa has entered a joint venture agreement to redevelop 40 hectares of land in Armstrong Creek near Geelong.
Costa Property Group will team with Integrated Development to build the $65 million, 400-lot residential village called Baron Rise, on the corner of Barwon Heads and Reserve roads, south-east of the Marshall train station near Grovedale. The affected land is currently being rezoned as part of the Horseshoe Bend Precinct Structure Plan.
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Quicksilver Leases Port Melbourne Office
INTERNATIONALLY established surf wear brand Quiksilver has chosen Port Melbourne as a base for its metropolitan operations.
The Torquay based company has signed a seven year lease for a 413 square metre double storey showroom within the Port Green Business Park at 67 – 77 Wharf Road near the Todd Road exit of the West Gate Freeway.
The Quiksilver lease enabled the new building to sell to an interstate investor for $1.72 million, and on a yield of just under 7 per cent.
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Caydon Reportedly Behind $16 Million Brunswick Development Site Purchase, Melbourne
LOCAL builder Caydon has purchased another major development site, this time in Brunswick East, and at the suburb border of Carlton North and Fitzroy North.
The Collingwood based developer is understood to have paid about $16 million for a one hectare disused factory at 21 – 27 Brunswick Road, near the corner of Nicholson Street where it is completing another project.
Caydon is reportedly planning to redevelop the old factory site into a $120 million village of apartment towers, shops and offices.
At that value, the project will be even bigger than the controversial Tip Tip factory redevelopment around the corner, being undertaken by Toll boss Paul Little’s building arm, Little Project Development.
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Malaysian Investors Buy Prominent Bourke Street Mall Building For $17 Million
ONE of the Melbourne CBD’s most prominent retail buildings has sold to Malaysia-based investors for $17 million.
The distinctive Bradmans Handbags building at the corner of Bourke and Swanston streets was sold by a family trust associated with former Melbourne Lord Mayor Sir Edward Leo Curtis, which has owned it since 1960.
Based on the building’s annual rent of $813,157, the asset sold on a yield of 4.78 per cent.
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CBUS to Build New NAB Office at Docklands
DEVELOPER CBus Property has secured the National Australia Bank as tenant for an as-yet-undeveloped office in Docklands.
The 61,000 square metre, 15-level tower is set to be developed at 700 Bourke Street, and near National Australia Bank’s world headquarters, on Victoria Harbour (at 800 Bourke Street) which it first committed to a decade ago.
The new building will also include a child care centre, and retail, according to a CBUS media release, and published on the Melbourne Docklands website.
Read moreVictorian Government Reaps $40 Million From Sale of Old Melbourne Convention Centre
THE Victorian Government has made about $40 million from the sale of the old Melbourne Convention Centre.
A joint venture between local developer Clement Lee and Eureka Funds Management has purchased the development site on the south-west corner of Flinders and Spencer streets.
A $300 million mixed use village is planned, according to the AFR which reported the sale.
Eureka owns the neighbouring Crowne Plaza Hotel, while Mr Lee’s Asset 1 owns the World Trade Centre, to the west of the former state government site.
Read moreBunnings to Lease Disused Australia Post Office, Docklands
ONE of Melbourne Dockland’s most prominent, but undeveloped sites, will be converted into a Bunnings store. The Wesfarmers subsidiary will
Read moreGAP Opens First Australian Store at Chadstone, Melbourne
HIGH end retailer Gap opened its first Australian store at Chadstone, in Melbourne, last month.
The 1200 square metre shop at the massive Chadstone The Fashion Capital shopping centre, is the latest in Gap’s 3100 store network.
Gap plans to open 10 to 15 stores across Australia in the next three to four years. Its next store will be at Westfield’s Sydney City complex later this year.
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Controversial Compulsory Acquisition Program Secures Phillip Island’s Penguin Colony
PHILLIP Island’s fairy penguin colony will be protected forever, with the completion of a controversial compulsory home acquisition program in a precinct on the south-west corner of the island known as Summerland.
All up, 774 privately owned properties across 85 hectares were compulsorily acquired by the state government since 1985.
The program was initially costed at $10.5 million, and expected to take 15 years, but blew out after a real estate property boom on the island stretched the government’s budget.
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Grocon Proposes 90-Level Skyscraper For Disused CUB Site, Carlton
THE Melbourne CBD skyline will have a Eureka of the north, if a proposed 90-storey skyscraper is granted approval, on part of the former Carlton and United Brewery site, in Carlton, and on the cusp of the city grid.
The building will include 800 apartments and soar 280 metres, making it slightly shorter than the landmark Eureka tower, in Southbank – which rises 89 levels and has 550 apartments.
Dubbed by developer Grocon as the DCM building, in honour of architect firm Denton Corker Marshall, the land had originally been earmarked to become an office building, before the economic downturn.
Grocon owns a majority of the undeveloped site, hidden behind bluestone walls. It bought the 1.6 hectare site from RMIT for $39 million in 2006. RMIT retained a small portion of the block.
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Planning Minister Justin Madden Approves Massive Upper West Side Project
HONG Kong based developer Far East Consortium is ready to redevelop one of the Melbourne CBD’s biggest remaining development sites.
Planning Minister Justin Madden this week approved the construction of a $1 billion-plus, multi-skyscraper compound, to replace the notorious eyesore known between 1950 and 2008 as the Lonsdale Street power station, at the Docklands-CBD suburb border, opposite the Southern Cross train station.
The Upper West Side complex, as it has been marketed, will include four major skyscrapers between 31 and 50 levels – linked by a one hectare podium rooftop garden – with a veggie patch and children’s play area. Retail will flank the ground levels.
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Luxury Wilsons Promontory Country Club Listed For Sale
A LUXURIOUS homestead near Wilsons Promontory – occupied by Crown-Prince Frederik of Denmark during the Olympic Games and immediately after he met his wife-to-be, Mary – has hit the market.
The Waratah Park Country House has been fitted out as a high end, six-bedroom country club and is asking $1.65 million.
An adjoining parcel of land with a 54-lot residential subdivision is for sale asking $1.5 million.
John H Castran director John Castran is the marketing agent.
Read moreCFS Makes $14 Million From the Sale of Shops Abutting Forest Hill Chase, Melbourne
COLONIAL First State pocketed $14 million this week from the sale of a portfolio of shops opposite its sizeable Forest Hill Chase Shopping Centre in Melbourne’s east.
They Sydney-based developer and fund manager offloaded 18 of the 23 shops listed for sale, and after a campaign targeting mum and dad investors.
The sold shops range in size from 50 square metres to 500 square metres, and traded for between $350,000 and $2.5 million, and on yields of between 3.78 per cent and 8 per cent.
Read moreMelbourne Industrial Sales Settle
AUSTRALAND has reaped $15 million from the sale of three industrial warehouses in the western Melbourne suburb of Derrimut. On
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More Apartments Around Camberwell Station
THINGS are about to get a lot busier around the Camberwell Station.
Developer and town planner Ed Zagame has started marketing apartments within his next project, Encore, opposite the busy stations’ Cookson Street entrance.
Encore will rise five levels and replace a string of historic terrace-style shops, next door to the distinctive Camberwell Antique Centre building.
Kay & Burton South Yarra’s Sam Wilkinson and Peter Kudelka are marketing Encore’s 12 dwellings, configured as two and three bedrooms flats, and priced from $795,000.
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Delgany apartments for sale
A CONSORTIUM which retained a swag of apartments and townhouses built within the walls and around the garden of Portsea’s landmark Delgany estate, has put that portfolio on the market.
The distinctive limestone mansion on the non-beach side of Point Nepean Road was developed in 1923 by architect Harold Desbrowe Annear, as a holiday house for western district farmer Harold Armytage – whose other property included South Yarra’s Como mansion.
Delgany was converted into a luxury restaurant and hotel before being sold to developers for $10 million in 2003, who built flats within the historic home, and townhouses around the three hectare garden.
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Skyscraper proposal for Rido House
The National Museum and State Library could be overshadowed by a 36-level skyscraper. Melbourne City Council is reviewing an application
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Lexus buys former News Limited and Cottee’s facility, Blackburn
LEXUS of Blackburn – whose radio advertisements wake tens of thousands of Victorians ahead of 3AW’s popular Rumour File – has itself settled speculation it has made a major property play.
The prestige car dealership is understood to have paid about $12 million for News Limited’s former Leader Newspaper facility at 160 Whitehorse Road, near its existing facility at 146 Whitehorse Road.
Lexus will develop an iconic, new car facility on the site at the corner of Railway Road and near the Blackburn train station – set to highlight the brand’s environmental credentials.
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Melbourne Fire Brigade Pays $6.45 Million For Melbourne Suburban Office
THE State government has outbid a brigade of owner occupiers to snap up a hot office building in the heart of Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs, which will eventually become home to the Melbourne Fire Brigade.
The MFB has paid $6.45 million for a double-storey standalone office at 1721 Malvern Road in Glen Iris, near the train station and High Street intersection.
On a block measuring 1603 square metres, the 1893 square metre building was last renovated in 2006. It includes 57 basement car parks, and currently returns a yearly rent of $523,450, mostly from tenant Preston Aviation Solutions.
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Private Sector to Develop Melbourne’s Next Hospital
MELBOURNE’s next hospital and major medical clinic will be developed by the private sector in Hawthorn.
The City of Boroondara council has issued a permit allowing for the former VECCHI building at 50 Burwood Road to be converted from offices into a 40-bed hospital, and associated medical centre allowing up to 15 practitioners.
Sydney-based Healthbridge, a health based fund of manager Ironbridge, outmuscled several residential property developers to buy the prominent Hawthorn site for $17.1 million in April. It struck a deal to relocate the office tenants that were still based at the office, while pushing its conversion plans with council.
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Queensland’s Tony Quinn Buys Major Laverton North Factory, Melbourne
LAVERTON North’s former McCubbins Pet Food Factory has sold for about $6 million to Queensland based pet food mogul and multi-millionaire, Tony Quinn.
The 10,600 square metre parcel at 75 – 77 Dohertys Road includes offices, cold stores, blast and plate freezers and two warehouses totalling 2300 square metres.
The existing building occupies just 22 per cent of the overall site, offering development potential down the track, should Mr Quinn’s pet food company, VIP Pet Food, decide to expand further.
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Another High Street Armadale Site Sells, Apartments Planned
ARMADALE’s next major mixed use project looks likely to rise from the site of a rundown collection of buildings between 1196 – 1200 High Street.
A local private investor and developer paid $5.525 million for the 706 square metre site, which is expected will make way for an apartment building with ground floor retail, and maybe some upper level offices.
Property developer and the former owner of Malvern’s Giorgio’s restaurant, George Saade, bid at the auction according to sources.
Read moreUpmarket Furniture Retailer Quits Collins Street’s Georges Building
Upmarket furniture and homeware retailer Radstock + Kendall will vacate its prominent retail space at the Georges building at 162 Collins Street, and lease about 250 square metres at the ground floor of Valad’s 575 Bourke Street office tower.
Knight Frank retail leasing director Gary Loo said the retailer is following office workers and city shoppers which are increasingly commuting around the western edge of the CBD.
He said interstate travelers accessing the CBD from Southern Cross station was another factor driving tenant interest in the area.
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Mirvac Gets Ready to market Sixth Docklands Skyscraper
SYDNEY-based developer Mirvac will launch its sixth Docklands skyscraper, Yarra Point, in October.
Mirvac will adopt a design strategy used at its Tower 5 complex nearby, and the Melburnian, in St Kilda Road, by targeting top-end buyers with a high quality product.
This is reflected in the sale price, where one-bedroom flats are expected to be priced from $500,000.
The distinctive $200 million tower, 31-level tower will include 201 apartments in one, two and three bedroom configurations.
Yarra Point will include a rooftop garden, communal barbecue facilities and a gym atop a fifth level podium.
Read moreWallan Development Site Sells For $14 Million
A MAJOR residential development site near central Wallan has sold to Sydney-based property group, Oracle Estates, for a speculated $14 million.
The 40.3 hectare former farm extends from the north-west corner of Rowes and Taylors lanes, through to a new housing estate which is also accessed by Taylors Lane, and the Northern Highway.
The property is about two kilometres from the Hume Freeway, a proposed major retail centre and the Wallan train station.
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Chapel Street’s Conways Buildings sells for $12.8m
CHAPEL Street’s historic Conways Building sold at auction on Thursday for $12.8 million.
On a 1000 square metre site, the 2372 square metre Prahran building is configured as four ground floor retail shops, and ten upper floor commercial studios.
On a fully let basis, the property could rent for $775,000 per annum, meaning the asset sold on a 6 per cent market yield.
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Zig Inge Outmuscles Developers For Prime South Yarra Office
FUND manager and developer Zig Inge Group is believed to have paid close to $18 million for a rundown but spectacularly located office investment at 199 Toorak Road in South Yarra.
The blue, glass, four-level building with ground floor shops is at the north-east corner of Claremont Street and will be renovated, and slotted into Zig Inge Group’s Core Plus Portfolio.
Zig Inge, which built its business developing retirement villages, outmuscled several high-rise residential developers for the 199 Toorak Road site, which measures 1689 square metres.
An adjoining site at 2 – 4 Claremont Street, measuring 908 metres was listed for sale with 199 Toorak Road, but after failing to attract interest as a whole – was sold separately after auction for a speculated $6.5 million.
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Ashburton Post Office Set to be Redeveloped Into Apartments
ANOTHER suburban post office is being redeveloped into flats.
This time, in Melbourne’s east, the former Ashburton Post Office at 218 High Street will be replaced with a four-level apartment building.
One bedroom units start at $349,950 – or about the same price as a house on land in the suburb in the late 1990s.
Castran Gilbert selling agents Michael Lang and David Howard say the apartments include reverse cycle heating and cooling, and full security basement car accommodation with direct lift access.
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Southbank’s Next Skyscraper to be Developed on Rear Yard of JH Boyd Girls School
A SLITHER of land behind one of Southbank’s oldest and grandest buildings – the former JH Boyd Girls’ High School – will make way for a major skyscraper, set to become a landmark near the busy intersection where the West Gate Freeway merges with Kings Way.
The City of Melbourne will ask private developers to build a 30-level tower filled with apartments, offices and shops, at the rear of a school site it acquired for $10.5 million in 2005.
Bound by City Road, Kings Way, Kavanagh and Balston streets, the balance of the property will be redeveloped as a cultural and community hub to service Southbank’s growing population, and evolving ethos.
Two parks – one measuring 1000 square metres, and another of 2500 square metres will also be developed on the site over the next four years.
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Stockland Starts Building Craigieburn Shopping Centre
HAVING opened the Stockland Tooronga Shopping Centre in Glen Iris on Thursday, Sydney-based developer Stockland has bought forward plans to build a $40 million, 7087 square metre complex in Melbourne’s outer north.
Preparatory construction work has started for two Craigieburn developments: the Stockland Highlands Shopping Centre at Bridgehaven Village, and another complex, The Corner Store, off Waterview Boulevard.
Stockland Highlands will open in the middle of next year and include 22 speciality shops and a piazza style town square.
Read morePlan International Australia Leases Southbank Office
HUMANITARIAN group Plan International Australia has leased 1000 square metres at the IBM Tower, at 60 City Road in Southbank.
The undisclosed rent is speculated at about $300 per square metre, per annum.
In June, Dexus Property Group announced plans for a $26 million refurbishment of its Southgate restaurant and retail complex, which is accessible to 60 City Road via a walkway.
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Office of Housing Buys Former Box Hill Aged Care Facility
THE Office of Housing has paid close to $4 million for a disused aged care facility in Box Hill.
Dwellings on the 2480 square metre site, opposite the Box Hill Tennis Club and near the Surrey Hills and Burwood suburb borders, are expected to be refurbished before being made available to public housing tenants.
The purchase continues a trend of the Federal Government, and associated public housing service providers snapping up prevalent development sites all around Melbourne and Victoria.
Some of the biggest public housing projects are currently under construction in Abbotsford, Ashwood, Carlton, Ringwood and Wonthaggi.
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Mirvac markets next next Docklands skyscraper
Mirvac will launch its sixth Docklands skyscraper – Yarra Point – in October. The group will adopt a similar design
Read moreRadstock and Kendall Furniture Goes West in Melbourne
Upmarket furniture and homeware retailer Radstock + Kendall will vacate its prominent retail space at the Georges building at 162 Collins Street, and lease about 250 square metres at the ground floor of Valad’s 575 Bourke Street office tower.
Knight Frank retail leasing director Gary Loo said the retailer is following office workers and city shoppers which are increasingly commuting around the western edge of the CBD.
He said interstate travelers accessing the CBD from Southern Cross station was another factor driving tenant interest in the area.
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Toyota to Build Vehicle Testing Track in Altona
MELBOURNE’s western suburbs may be notorious for its hoon drivers – but for at least one tract of privately owned land in Altona North, thrashing a car may soon be encouraged.
Japan-based car manufacturer Toyota has lodged an application with the Hobsons Bay City Council to convert a massive 19.7 parcel of land at 304 – 388 Grieve Parade into a new vehicle testing track.
The site would be used by Toyota engineers and staff to test the performance of motor vehicles manufactured at the Altona plant – including the new green Hybrid Camry.
Read moreArmadale Suite of Buildings Sells For $5.5 Million
ARMADALE’s next major mixed use project looks likely to rise from the site of a rundown collection of buildings between 1196 – 1200 High Street.
A local private investor and developer paid $5.525 million for the 706 square metre site, which is expected will make way for an apartment building with ground floor retail, and maybe some upper level offices.
Property developer and the former owner of Malvern’s Giorgio’s restaurant, George Saade, bid at the auction according to sources.
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Becton lists 422 Little Collins St
DEVELOPER and fund manager Becton is still in a selling mood.
This time, the East Melbourne-based group is offloading a Little Collins Street office building it bought from Vicland for $22.2 million in September 2006.
The 422 Little Collins Street office is expected to fetch about $17.5 million this time around, reflecting a yield of about 10 per cent based on the assets approximate annual income of $1.75 million.
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RAIA to Start Construction of Melbourne CBD’s Next Office Building
CONSTRUCTION of the city’s next major office tower will start in February, after seven, strata titled levels of a proposed buidling sold “off-the-plan” to owner occupiers, in a pre-marketing campaign.
The Royal Australian Institute of Architects will build an uber-luxurious, $40 million, 21-level tower at the north-west corner of Exhibition Street and Flinders Lane.
Measuring approximately 7000 square metres, the RAIA will occupy levels 1 to 4 of the new building, which will sit between much larger skyscrapers including the Ernst & Young building at 8 Exhibition Street, the Collins Place towers and the recently refurbished Grand Hyatt Hotel.
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Ex radio station earmarked for skyscraper
South Melbourne’s next skyscraper is set to rise from the former headquarters of radio stations 3AW693 and Magic1278. Kingsford Property
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Mirvac Starts Planning its Biggest Victorian Masterplanned Community
MIRVAC was one of many land owners celebrating the State Government’s decision last month to substantially extend Melbourne’s Urban Growth Boundary.
The announcement paves the way for Mirvac, with Malaysia based joint venture partner Jayaland, to develop its largest master planned Victorian community in the western suburb of Rockbank, near Melton, about 28 kilometres from town.
Mirvac chief executive officer Victoria John Carfi said the company was delighted with the government’s decision, and that it will now work with the Growth Areas Authority and the Melton City Council to work through a new planning process.
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Apartments at Naval and Military Club Redevelopment Hit the Market
THE Paris end of the Melbourne CBD is set to see the construction of a new apartment skyscraper.
The former Naval & Military Club at 27 Little Collins Street will be demolished and replaced with a 32-level tower, targeting two types of high-end buyers.
Levels 15 to 25 of the new building will include 142 apartments priced from $385,000 for a one-bedroom, and $580,000 for two-bedroom apartments.
Larger, luxury apartments will be developed between levels 26 and 30, where one bedroom flats start at $590,000 and two-bedroom apartments, from $1.087 million.
A penthouse occupies the highest floors, while the lowest 14-levels will trade as a hotel, flanked by ground floor shops.
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Williamstown Gasometer to be Auctioned
AFTER failing to sell for more than a year, a massive Williamstown development site with a catch will be auctioned next month.
The former Williamstown gasometer site at 87 – 93 Stevedore Street is expected to attract interest from residential developers who would need to remediate the site and have it rezoned, before undertaking a redevelopment.
Measuring 3600 square metres, the property is expected to fetch some $3 million when it is put to auction at 2pm on Wednesday September 29, in a campaign being managed by Century 21 Wilson Pride Prahran’s David Lowenstein.
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Glynt hits market again
Mount Martha’s Glynt Manor is for sale again asking $6.5 million. The c1910 home was built by the Henty family
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Portsea Golf Club Resort a Step Closer After Club Sells Enough Sites to Fund Redevelopment
PLANS for a new $12 million clubhouse and hotel resort at the prestigious Portsea Golf Club have teed off, officially, after the Club successfully sold enough of its land to fund the new development.
Four of the five double blocks put to the market in February have now sold, with another two blocks now released for sale.
The Club is expected to bunker another $4 million from the remaining three blocks.
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Former Government Pound Hits Market as Development Site
A MAJOR development site offloaded by the State Government six years ago for $2.8 million, has hit the market again, and is expected to sell for almost twice that amount.
The former Box Hill dog pound at the south-east corner of Canterbury Road and Hay Street is being offloaded by retirement village operators, who have decided against building a major 76-unit aged care facility on the site.
The block will be sold with two permits – allowing for an aged care redevelopment, or a more medium density traditional residential development with ground floor shops.
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