Beck, Fox propose Essendon Fields car dealership hub
Car enthusiast Lindsay Fox will build a master-planned new car dealership precinct at Essendon Airport. The businessman and philanthropist this
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CCB Leases Collins Street Office, Melbourne
CHINA Construction Bank (CCB) – reportedly the world’s second largest bank measured by market capitalization – has arrived in Melbourne.
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Australian Ballet Spends $10 Million on Altona Office Warehouse
AUSTRALAND Property Group has sold an as yet unbuilt office and warehouse facility in Melbourne’s west to the Australian Ballet.
The 9840 square metre facility within the Access Altona estate in Altona will start construction this month, and is due for completion at the end of the year.
Australian Ballet, a national dance group, will amongst other things, store scenery, props, lighting and costume equipment at the new facility.
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Box Hill’s Standard Brickworks set for redevelopment
Box Hill Standard Brickworks could be replaced with townhouses next year. The 7.2 hectare property at the end of Federation
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Sunshine West Shopping Centre, Melbourne, Sells For $4.95 Million
THE SHOPPING Centre, at 136 The Avenue, in Sunshine West, Melbourne, sold to a high net worth private investor for
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Tourism Asset Holdings to Sell Prominent St Kilda Novotel Complex
TOURISM Asset Holdings Limited can expect to make between $55 and $60 million from the sale of the landmark Novotel
Read moreHistoric Richmond factory earmarked for offices
Two years after failing to sell at auction for $20 million, the owners of Richmond’s a former Rosella Preserving and
Read moreBunnings Outgoing Hoppers Crossing Store, Melbourne, Sells For $14.6 million
A BUNNINGS trust has sold a prominent Hoppers Crossing warehouse to a local private investor for $14.6 million.
Based on the $1.23 million annual rent the Bunnings store pays, the 2.7-hectare site, with a 8500 square metre warehouse and 310 car park bays, sold on a yield of 8.45 per cent.
Bunnings is committed to 163-169 Old Geelong Road until March 2020, when it will reportedly relocate to an as yet unbuilt warehouse nearby.
According to CBRE selling agent Justin Dowers, who marketed the asset with Mark Wizel, new Bunnings stores including those in Vermont South and in Mentone (which is nearing construction), at between 16,000 and 18,000 square metres, are about twice the size of the Hoppers Crossing store.
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$30 Million Mixed Use Project in Hawthorn, Melbourne, Sells Out
LOCAL developer Drive Projects with Interlandi Mantesso Architects has pocketed almost $30 million from the sale of apartments and strata office suites within a prominent mixed-use project abutting Swinburne University’s Hawthorn campus.
The six-level project at 523 Burwood Road includes almost 50 flats and upper-level strata office suites. Earlier this year, the fifth level of the building, with a 415-square-metre office, 134 square metre terrace and 12 car park spaces sold for about $2.45 million.
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Greencor spends $26m in Wollert
Local developer Greencor is paying $26 million for a 57 hectare farm on Bodycoats Road in Wollert. Marketed as ”the
Read moreMelbourne Water to Sell Dandenong South Land
MELBOURNE Water can expect about $6.5 million from the sale of a development site on the corner of Colemans and
Read moreChallenger to sell Jam Factory
Eleven months since announcing a $700 million revamp of South Yarra’s iconic Jam Factory, the James Packer backed Challenger group
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United Petroleum Buys Victorian Freeholds and Leaseholds
A PORTFOLIO of four Freedom petrol stations in Gippsland has sold for $7.6 million to United Petroleum, which will be an owner-occupier.
The most expensive asset, a 1812-square-metre station overlooking Western Port in San Remo, South Gippsland, sold for $3.59 million (image of pelicans at San Remo, right).
The other stations are in Churchill, Traralgon and Newborough.
In conjunction with these property sales, a 14-site retail network of Freedom Fuel stores also sold to United Petroleum for an undisclosed price.
Melbourne’s southern suburbs star
THE performance of Melbourne’s southern suburb’s reflects the truism that the rich are getting richer.
Nine of the ten best performing suburbs had annual median house growth of more than 10 per cent, with the best performer, Toorak, increasing by an astounding 33.6 per cent. If you’re aspiring to get into the suburb, you’d better have found an extra $560,000 since last year – with the median house price now $2,230,500, almost double that of Melbourne’s second most expensive suburb, Brighton.
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Riverside Chunk of Industrial Land Rezoned For Redevelopment, Kensington, Melbourne
ANOTHER chunk of former industrial land in Kensington is on track to being replaced with apartments.
At 1-89 Hobsons Road, abutting the Maribyrnong River, and between the train line and Lynch’s Bridge, five hectares of land belonging to six separate owners has been rezoned to allow for mixed-use redevelopment.
The land is diagonally opposite a 15-hectare Footscray parcel across the Maribyrnong River known as the Joseph Road precinct, which has recently been earmarked for intense apartment development.
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Prominent Melbourne CBD Corner Sells For $10.75 Million
A LOCAL private investor has paid $10.75 million for a historic property at the south-west tip of the CBD.
The former Sir Charles Hotham Hotel (pictured, right), later rebranded the Hotham Private Hotel, and now the All Nations Backpackers, occupies sites at 2-8 Spencer Street and 566-580 Flinders Street, near the Yarra River.
On an 833-square-metre site, the property has been offered for sale at various stages over the years, but a lease expiring in 2018 is believed to have deterred residential developers.
Out With The Old at Phillip Island
THE owners of a 26-hectare Phillip Island farm, until three years ago owned by AMP Capital Investors and earmarked to become a retirement village, have applied to Bass Coast Shire Council to remove the entire aged-care component of the proposal.
The owner of the site paid AMP a reported $8 million for the Ventnor Road block and a permit for a 184-lot residential subdivision.
A major aged-care complex and community facilities were required to be developed as part of that permit. However, the council will now decide on whether to issue a new permit resulting in the entire farm, about three kilometres south-west of the centre of Cowes, being subdivided into 304 standard residential lots.
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Auction Ending For Ansett Office Dispute
THE falling-out of two of Melbourne’s biggest private developers will be played out publicly at the end of the month when agents auction a landmark city office building – on court orders.
The imminent sale of the former Ansett headquarters at 501 Swanston Street (pictured, right), for a price expected to surpass $50 million, is also fascinating those within the real estate industry for being likely to smash the record price paid for a CBD office at auction.
Interestingly, each of the co-owning vendors of the building, Vince Giuliano, head of PDG Corporation, and Mario Salvo, director of Salvo Property Group, is expected to bid for full control of the asset.
Read moreGSK sells portion of Boronia HQ
GlaxoSmithKline has sold a 7.32 hectare tract behind its long-time Boronia headquarters, in Melbourne’s east. For the deal to conclude,
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Bunnings to build apartments in Doncaster
ANOTHER Wesfarmers subsidiary is playing “reluctant” property developer, by substantially improving the profitability of a prominent Doncaster site it bought to build a Bunnings warehouse.
The 1.1 hectare development site, abutting the massive Westfield Shoppingtown complex, may now be replaced with a $200 million mixed use complex including a multi-level Bunnings store, car park, and 350-unit residential tower, it is speculated could rise some 20 levels.
Bunnings paid $25 million for the collection of adjoining properties bound by Doncaster Road, Tower and Council streets in 2011, saying at the time the supersite would only be replaced with a hardware store, to complement the shopping centre next door.
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LaTrobe University to Sell Former Mayday Hills Hospital, Beechworth
LA TROBE University is readying to sell one of country Victoria’s most charming, historic rural properties.
The former Mayday Hills Hospital is spread over 100 hectares near the centre of Beechworth, and includes heritage gardens, and many classified buildings dating back to the 1860s.
Built as the Beechworth Lunatic Asylum in the 1860s, and originally stretching a half-kilometre from end-to-end, the Beechworth estate, and another in Ararat, were built to cope with over-crowding at the state’s then only mental institution at Yarra Bend (Kew).
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Tiny Southbank Site Earmarked For Major Tower
A SLIVER of Southbank land, about the same size as would accommodate a standard inner-city terrace house, has sold for $1.23 million because of its redevelopment potential.
The 168 square metre site at 11-13 Hancock Street sold at auction this week before 45 observers. Savills directors Nick Peden and Clinton Baxter represented the vendors who constructed a workshop on the site in the 1940s.
The block is some 900 metres from the CBD, between the Crown Casino and Clarendon Street shopping strip. Sold with vacant possession, it is expected to make way for an apartment complex. Savills directors Nick Peden and Clinton Baxter were the marketing agents.
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Old Transformers nightclub for sale
The syndicate which repositioned Bentleigh’s Transformers nightclub into a mixed-use complex is selling up. The five level building at the
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Major Industrial Development Sites in Truganina Expected to Fetch $12 Million
RECEIVERS for the owners of a versatile 555-hectare Truganina property, the largest asset measured by area to hit the market last year, are selling down the property in smaller chunks.
After failing to sell for a total $100 million in separate campaigns in 2010, and 2011, four industrial development sites, each measuring about 42 hectares are now for sale, in a campaign being managed by Biggin Scott Commercial’s Andrew Egan and Frank Nagle.
Accessed via Hopkins Road, the blocks are expected to sell for about $3 million each.
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Lower Density Design to Replace Site Abutting Melbourne’s Tower of Power
SOME of Melbourne’s most influential businessmen, including active Liberal Party supporters, have defeated a developer’s plan to build a 29-level skyscraper which would have blocked Port Phillip Bay views enjoyed from apartments they own or occupy in a prestigious complex next-door.
New images affecting a site at 35 Albert Road, and to be marketed as The Emerald, Melbourne, show a 19-level, 282 unit residential project (pictured, above), which will rise no higher than 60 metres.
The proposal replaces a higher density, 420-unit application (pictured, above, right) which was the subject of a high profile development dispute in 2010.
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Monash City Council Sells Former Aged Care Facility, Oakleigh South
MONASH City Council has sold a spectacularly located development site opposite the Huntingdale Golf Club to a developer for $3.76 million.
The 6712 square metre, Residential 1 zoned block at 1213 – 1217 Centre Road on the north-east corner of Huntingdale Road, in Oakleigh South, was until recently known as the Clarinda Centre For The Aged.
Next door to a former quarry, the site is expected to make way for a medium density apartment project, but was not sold with a permit.
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Residential Developer Buys Camberwell Site Until Recently Earmarked to Become Offices
A PROMINENT Camberwell development site opposite the suburb’s Town Hall and until recently earmarked to become a $50 million office building, has sold for $7.7 million to residential developer, Trenerry Property Group.
The site at 347 Camberwell Road, north-west of the busy Camberwell Junction, sold with a permit for a four-level, 8277 square metre office.
However given the recent success apartment projects in the area recently, including Aerial at the Camberwell Junction, the vendor, local developer CGA Bryson, was pursuing another permit for a residential based project with just 1000 square metres of office space, and 112 flats.
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Major Tower Earmarked To Replace Coburg Church
PLANS are afoot to redevelop a prominent former Church abutting the Coburg train station.
At 146 Bell Street, Coburg, the triangle-shaped site is near the corner of Sydney Road, the Pentridge Village redevelopment, and several council-owned sites which form part of the $1 billion Coburg Initiative, one of the largest urban renewal projects outside of central Melbourne.
A council spokesman said the Coburg Initiative will still take place despite the ending of a joint venture agreement with local developer Equiset last year. The project may have included sinking the Coburg train station opposite 146 Bell Street to develop a new apartment-based village above.
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Scene of the Great Bookie Robbery For Sale
OPEN Universities Australia is selling its former head office, which was also the scene of the 1976 Great Bookie Robbery.
The online tertiary education facility can expect to make about $4.4 million for its strata office, which includes levels one and two of the historic 131 Queen Street building. Connected by an internal staircase, and with a restored grand boardroom, each level measures 675 square metres.
For years the building was owned and occupied by the Victoria Club. DTZ agent Craig Hembrow said the robbery was perpetrated in the former Club boardroom on the first level (pictured).
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Stonington being sold down again
Part of Malvern’s Stoningon estate in Malvern – once the Governor General’s residence and which many Melburnians believe should never
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Shark Fin House Building, Chinatown, Melbourne, To Sell for Some $7 Million
THE Little Bourke Street building that houses popular Chinatown restaurant Shark Fin House is for sale and expected to sell for about $6.8 million.
At 131 – 135 Little Bourke Street, the four-level building includes approximately 930 square metres of net lettable area, and sits on a 288 square metre block between Russell and Exhibition streets.
Built in 1987, the building returns annual rent of almost $400,000, and is leased until 2018 with a ten year option.
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Victorian Planning Minister Approves $271 Million Expansion of SP Ausnet Facility, Brunswick East
ONE of Brunswick East’s biggest developments will take place behind wire gates, after planning minister Matthew Guy approved a $271 million expansion of SP Ausnet’s Brunswick Terminal Station, at the T-intersection of Glenlyon Road and King Street.
The application for the site, which abuts the Merri Creek and is near the suburb border of Fitzroy North and Northcote, was to have been decided by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal after the Moreland City Council rejected the proposal last November.
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Development Site, Southbank, For Sale With Permit
PLANS are afoot to develop another major skyscraper on a Southbank site abutting the West Gate Freeway.
The affected site at 61-71 Haig Street, with rear access to Blakeney Place, is on the city side of the major freeway, near Crown Casino, the Melbourne Exhibition Centre and Clarendon Street shops.
Now being offered for sale, and with price expectations of about $14 million, the 1857 square metre site is not being offered with a permit. However the area is permitted for buildings of about 100 metres, meaning the commercial sites could make way for a residential tower of about 30 levels.
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Vasey RSL To Sell Hawthorn Hostel For $7 Million
ANOTHER property in Lisson Grove, one of Hawthorn’s most revered tree-lined streets, may be replaced with a medium density, luxury apartment village.
At #20, Vasey RSL Care has listed for sale a 3560 square metre hostel that is being marketed as a development site, and is expected to sell for about $7 million.
The property includes a historic building up front, and a 1960s rear extension with a communal kitchen, dining and recreation rooms and 58 independent living units mostly configured as bedsits and one-bedroom flats.
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Pickles Auctions Signs Large Short Term Lease to Cope With Hail Damaged Vehicles
PICKLES Auctions has signed a short-term lease for 60,000 square metres of industrial space, until recently occupied by one of its rivals, Fowles.
In the western suburb of Braybrook, the property at 594 – 598 Geelong Road was required to cope with an influx of some 10,000 vehicles which recently found their way onto the company’s books following the hail storms of Christmas Day.
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Councillor Suggests Westfield Contribute to Cost of Funding Train Line to Centre
IN THE east Melbourne suburb of Doncaster, a Manningham City Council has suggested long-time dweller Westfield financially contribute to an infrastructure project designed to cope with the traffic it will permit for development along the eastern corridor.
Cr Stephen Mayne this week said the Sydney based property company would be the biggest beneficiary of a train line to Doncaster Shoppingtown – currently Westfield’s third best centre measured by sales, after Bondi Junction in Sydney and Chermside in Brisbane.
The Eastern Golf Course nearby has also been sold to a developer (Mirvac) and is expected to be replaced with a $1 billion residential-based village with apartment, office and hotel towers, and streets built around fairways, once an orchard.
Read moreDeveloper employs Tim Mathieson to sell apartments
The developer which recently appointed would-be-prime minister Julia Gillard’s partner, Tim Mathieson, to sell its luxury apartments has sought ministerial
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Yarra Glen Farm on Green Wedge Zoned Land Set to Become Chocolaterie Tourist Attraction
A YARRA Glen farm on land zoned Green Wedge will be converted into “the number one rural tourism attraction in Australia” after the Yarra Ranges Shire Council unanimously approved a $31 million chocolate centre at a prominent corner site.
The major development will be developed on a 15.5 hectare farm on the north-east corner of Old Healesville Road and Melba Highway, about 2.7 kilometres east of the Yarra Glen township and near the Alowyn Gardens.
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Adidas switches Mulgrave HQ
Adidas will relocate from one Mulgrave office to another. The sports product supplier has signed a 3600 square metre lease
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Central City Boundaries Set to Expand Beyond Traditional Hoddle Grid: Melbourne’s New Planning Policy
CENTRAL Melbourne is set to expand under a new proposal by the Baillieu liberal government.
Dubbed the “Grand CBD” proposal, planning minister Matthew Guy introduced the policy last week. It aims to transform the city into a “Manhattan-style metropolis” five times its present size.
Melbourne’s tallest buildings will be permitted to rise from what are currently factories around Fishermans Bend, a pocket of Port Melbourne, south-east of the CBD, or in an area defined as E-gate, north of Docklands and between the Southern Cross and North Melbourne train station (which is actually in West Melbourne). Using a new Capital City Zone, height restrictions will be abolished.
Read moreMajor Proposal Being Reviewed For West Melbourne
IN THE week the Melbourne City Council legislated for higher-density development in the inner north-western suburbs, it can also be revealed Planning Minister Matthew Guy is reviewing plans to replace two historic West Melbourne factories with two landmark apartment buildings – the tallest soaring 44 levels.
The sites, at 371 – 379 Spencer Street and 83 – 113 Batman Street, will be combined to create a new village with a gross floor area of some 85,000 square metres – about the same size as the Rialto.
Proposed by local investment house Bennelong Group, two towers – one rising 39 levels, and another, 29, will be developed atop a five level podium which will include 548 car park bays and 223 bike spaces.
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South Yarra Development Site Sells For $5.5 Million
A SOUTH Yarra development site within the Forrest Hill precinct that is quickly becoming a high-rise apartment compound, has sold for $5.5 million to a consortium of off-shore and local investors.
The 10 Claremont Street residential development (artist impression, right) is one of the areas densest proposals – permitted to rise 17 levels and include 104 flats of which 89 are configured with one bedroom.
When apartments first hit the market for sale last year, one bedroom flats were priced from $350,000.
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Historic Seabrook Chambers Building, CBD, to Fetch $5 Million
A HISTORIC CBD property, purchased by barristers almost 30 years ago, and occupied as legal industry offices since, is expected to fetch about $5 million at auction next month.
Seabrook Chambers, at 573– 577 Lonsdale Street (pictured, right), was for years a warehouse facility, and later, between 1968 and 1979, home to Seabrook Wines.
Built in 1854, the double-storey bluestone building includes about 979 square metres of lettable office space and sits on an approximate 411 square metre block. It is being sold with vacant possession.
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RSL to Sell Prominent Beaumaris Facility
AHEAD of a move to an as-yet-undeveloped facility at Cheltenham, the Returned and Services League is selling its Beaumaris facility in a deal expected to pocket the club around $17 million.
The 1.1 hectare property (aerial shot, right) has a large frontage to exclusive Bolton Street. According to the RSL’s website, the site is 300 metres above sea level at the suburb’s highest point.
The clubhouse, which is expected to be demolished after the sale, is also currently used by the suburb’s Lions Club, Legacy Widows’ Club, and a unit of the Red Cross.
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Court to Decide Whether $1000 Home Sale Was Permissable
THE SUPREME Court will decide whether a Victorian sheriff acted unconscionably when he sold a $630,000 Braybrook house for $1000 at a no-reserve auction.
In an extraordinary deal conducted at the Carlton sherrif’s office in December 2010, retailer Zhiping Zhou had his imposing near-new, six-bedroom home (pictured, right) sold to settle a $93,000 debt – reportedly accrued by another man Zhou had gone guarantor for, who is now based in China.
The court had directed the sheriff sell home be sold at a no-reserve auction after it failed to sell some years ago, Channel Seven reports.
Read moreSolomon Lew Backed Richmond Office Building For Sale
The Australian Property Growth Fund is expected to reap about $30 million, sources say, for a large Richmond office building which is occupied as offices for Solomon-Lew backed retailer Country Road.
Part of a business park at 658 Church Street, near the Yarra River and South Yarra border, the Country Road headquarters is visible to Citylink commuters around Richmond.
Colliers International director Peter Bremner is marketing the Richmond property, a former electrical substation, with Dawkins Occhiuto’s Andrew Dawkins and Walter Occhiuto.
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Yarra Glen Shopping Centre, Melbourne, Sells For $8.4 Million
A near-new, neighbourhood shopping centre on a massive 9.3 hectare site, most of which can’t be redeveloped, sold for $8.4 million last month to a local private investor.
The Yarra Glen Shopping Centre (aerial, right) was one of several Mortgagee Sale campaigns offered last year. A supermarket – leased to Ritchies Supa IGA until 2028 – fills 70 per cent of the 3747 square metre complex which also includes 11 specialty stores.
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New Plan for 33-Level Skyscraper in Suburban Melbourne
NEW plans are in the works to redevelop the Box Hill car park which four years ago was earmarked to become suburban Melbourne’s tallest skyscraper.
Developer AXF Group is in discussion with the Whitehorse City Council to build another landmark project at the 545 Station Street site, near the corner of Whitehorse Road and behind the Centro Box Hill shopping centre, which is atop the busy train station.
In 2008, The Age reported plans by the site owner to replace the 2417 square metre site, currently an open-air car park, with a 39-level tower, offering office and retail space, as well as an unconfirmed number of apartments (some of which would have been managed as hotel suites) estimated by some to be a couple of hundred.
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Wheels in Motion For Commercial Real Estate Industry Charity Bike Ride
THE Victorian leg of Chain Reaction, the week-long event that has become the commercial real estate sector’s highest profile charitable exercise, starts in Melbourne next month.
The bike challenge, in which members of several agencies and other associated industries are represented, will take participants through 1000 kilometres to Mt Buller and back, and through Ballarat, Heathcote, Nagambie, Violet Town, Whitfield, Mt Buller, Mansfield, Yea and Flowerdale.
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SP AusNet to Reap $5 Million From Victorian Development Site Sales
ELECTRICITY transmission network owner and operator SP-AusNet can expect to make about $5 million from the sale of two Victorian properties, effectively development sites.
The first site, at 785 Thompsons Road in Lyndhurst in Melbourne’s outer south-east, measures 23.7 hectares and is opposite the Sandhurst Club Golf Course and Links Living residential estate. It’s expected to sell to a residential developer for about $4 million, according to sources.
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Prominent North Melbourne Development Site Expected to Fetch $20 Million
ANOTHER development site has hit the market within the vicinity of the recently re-aligned Haymarket roundabout, where North Melbourne connects with Parkville and Carlton.
At 19 – 25 Flemington Road (highlighted, right), next door to a RMIT student village complex that was once the prestigious Apollo Old Melbourne Hotel, the 4000 square metre site is expected to fetch about $20 million and sell to a developer likely to replace the existing c1964 showroom with a landmark apartment tower.
Built for Southern Motors, the asset is being sold by interests associated with that owner-occupier, after being leased to short-term tenants over recent years.
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Outgoing Pakenham Racecourse and Showgrounds Site Close to Sale For Circa $30 Million
SIXTEEN months after it first hit the market, the outgoing Pakenham Racecourse and Showgrounds site is believed to have found a buyer.
Well placed industry sources say the vendor, the Pakenham Racing Club, is set to pocket about $30 million from the sale of the 25.85 hectare property, which abuts the Pakenham train station, about 55 kilometres south-east of town.
The estimated sale price is far less than the reported $38 million developer The Corcoris Group agreed to pay for the site early last year, before withdrawing from the transaction in September.
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Council Approves $400 Million Redevelopment of Former Channel Nine Headquarters, Bendigo Street, Richmond
THE Yarra City Council has approved the $400 million redevelopment of Channel Nine’s long-time Bendigo Street studios, in Melbourne’s inner east.
Des Tuppence Moran’s Ascot Vale House Sells For $1.105 Million
THE Ascot Vale home where underworld figure Desmond “Tuppence” Moran was nearly killed sold at auction this weekend for $1.105 million.
The Langs Road home, opposite the northern boundary of the Flemington Racecourse and near the Flemington suburb border, is on a super-sized 1020 square metre block, and includes a historic large home with postcard Melbourne CBD skyline views.
It is not known whether the new owner will restore the salmon pink home, or replace it with a newer home. According to the Herald Sun, about $600,000 from the sale will be confiscated under the proceeds-of-crime laws.
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Pamela Anderson House in St Kilda West Now For Private Sale
ST KILDA West’s prominent “Pamela Anderson House” (pictured, right) has been relisted for private sale at $1.62 million after failing to sell after an Expression of Interest campaign that closed in mid-November.
Built by former football identity Sam Newman in 2000, the distinctive property in Canterbury Road and at the suburb border of Middle Park includes a faint close-up image of the Baywatch star, within its three-level glass façade.
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EG Funds Management Proposes Redevelopment of Prominent Kensington Site, Melbourne
Sydney-based developer EG Funds Management has lodged plans to replace a rundown Kensington wool store (pictured, right) with a major residential village.
The 110-year old historic building, next door to flour processing plant Allied Mills, whose factory is prominent to commuters taking the Bolte Bridge, is expected to be retained in any redevelopment.
EG is seeking to build at least one tower, rising up to 12 levels, on its site, according to The Age which reported the development application that has been rejected by council.
Stockland Highlands Shopping Centre Opens, Craigieburn
SYDNEY based developer has opened its Stockland Highlands Shopping Centre in the outer northern Melbourne suburb of Craigieburn.
A copy of Stockland’s announcement re: the opening is below:
November 23:
Craigieburn residents will benefit from a convenient new neighbourhood shopping experience, following the opening of the Stockland Highlands Shopping Centre on Thursday 17 November 2011.
Charter Hall buys Bendigo shopping centre
Sydney based asset manager Charter Hall has paid $32.5 million for the Lansell Plaza shopping centre at Kangaroo Flat, about
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CFS, Gandel Propose $500 Million Hotel and Office Redevelopment at Chadstone Shopping Centre
THE biggest shopping centre in the southern hemisphere is about to undergo its highest profile redevelopment, some 51 years after it opened (pictured, right).
The owners of the complex now known as Chadstone – The Fashion Capital, are negotiating with the Stonnington City Council to build two glass skyscrapers, each of about 12 levels, at the easternmost edge of the complex near Dandenong Road.
If approved, one tower will accommodate a hotel, and the other, an office.
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GSK lists part of HQ
GlaxoSmithKline is selling a chunk of land beside the prominent Boronia site held for years as its national headquarters. The
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Australian Unity Sells Prahran Medical Centre For $18.7 Million
AFTER retaining it for five years, the Australian Unity Investments’ Healthcare Property Trust has sold an inner-city medical complex in a prime residential area to a syndicate of private investors.
The Victoria House Medical Centre and Victoria Clinic complexes at 314 – 324 Malvern Road in Prahran (pictured, right) sold for $18.7 million, reflecting a yield of 8.3 per cent based on the asset’s annual rental income of $1.55 million.
Australian Unity paid $17.53 million for the Residential 1 zoned asset in 2006, on a yield of 7.8 per cent.
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Krueger Site, St Albans, Melbourne, Readying to be Rebuilt as Residential Village
PLANS for a $150 million-plus apartment-based village with towers rising up to eight levels are one step closer, in St
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Lloyd Williams to sell St Kilda Road site
Developer Hudson Conway, headed by billionaire businessman Lloyd Williams has relisted a development site at 557 St Kilda Road, on
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Patrick Studios Leases Port Melbourne Space
DANCE academy Patrick Studios, which was formed in London, has leased 2300 square metres of space recently vacated by photographic
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VicUrban Poised to Seize CSIRO Highett Site, Melbourne
THE state government’s development arm is poised to seize control of a highly-anticipated infill site within a south-eastern suburb that may soon have its own skyline.
Well placed industry sources say VicUrban is negotiating to acquire the CSIRO’s outgoing Land and Research Highett Laboratory some 16 kilometres south-east of town near the Southland Shopping Centre and an as-yet-undeveloped train station.
The CSIRO laboratory has been anticipated as a residential development site for years but particularly since 1996 when council rezoned land in Highett, and neighbouring Sandringham and Cheltenham from Industrial 1 to Business 3, and increased height limits to 14 metres to allow for the construction of commercial premises.
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Flinders Street Development Site Sells After Auction
A PROBLEMATIC city development site with a permit sold after auction on Thursday for an as-yet undisclosed price.
The 556 – 560 Flinders Street property, at the north-west corner of Downie Street, has been earmarked over the years for a variety of developments, of varying heights.
At one stage a scheme was prepared for a 33-level commercial tower with 25-levels of strata office suites. Another proposal would have seen 101 apartments squeezed onto the 291 square metre block, opposite the new Northbank Place complex, between Spencer and King streets.
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Kew’s Shalom Lodge to be Redeveloped as Esque Apartment Tower
FORMER aged care facility Shalom Lodge is the victim of the medium-density apartment boom taking place around Kew, about six kilometres east of town.
A historic building at 4 Willsmere Road that occupied the nursing home is being marketed as a ritzy apartment complex, Esque.
The 1350 square metre Kew site was offered for sale in July 2010 with a permit for a 12-unit development. The site’s asking price was $2.98 million.
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Skyscraper Approved Behind 420 Spencer Street, Site Now For Sale
ONE of the inner-city’s most distinctive art deco commercial buildings – on a gateway site connecting West Melbourne to the CBD – will be retained and form the entrance of a major apartment skyscraper.
Planning minister Matthew Guy has approved the development of a 32-level, 368 unit apartment tower on land behind the Streamline Moderne building at 420 Spencer Street, near the Flagstaff Gardens, at the north-west tip of town and within an area that is quickly becoming a development hot-spot.
Constructed in 1930 as the headquarters and showroom for Australian Glass Manufacturers, and extended in 1937, 420 Spencer Street (pictured) was until recently occupied by retailer Nightingale Electrics. The building, recognised by the National Trust, used materials such as metal window door frames in its then-modern design.
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Penthouse Within Sydney’s The Cove Tower Lists With $15 Million Price Expectations
A PENTHOUSE within Harry Seidler’s Sydney CBD apartment tower, The Cove, has hit the market with price expectations of about $15 million.
The penthouse with views of the Sydney Opera House and Darling Harbour (image, right) is being offloaded by UK entrepreneur Graham Hellier, who has reportedly spent several million on a refurbishment. It was previously owned by another business identity Koyelan Bangaru.
The penthouse includes four bedrooms, an office and media room and several living zones.
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Springvale Homemaker Centre Opens, Melbourne
THE massive Springvale Homemaker Centre has opened in Melbourne’s outer-south east.
The 205,000 square metre (gross) complex, a joint venture between Harvey Norman and IKEA (Sweden) has been in the works since 2006.
The double storey complex and 2800 car parks (impression, right) is anchored by the two retailers: Harvey Norman occupies a 10,000 store, while IKEA will trade from a huge 36,000 square metre facility.
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26-Level Tower Approved For Site Near St Kilda Junction
VICTORIAN planning minister Matthew Guy has approved the construction of a 26-level, 272 unit apartment complex near the frantic St Kilda Junction, in Melbourne’s inner-south.
Set to be developed on a 2845 square metre block at the intersection of St Kilda Road and Barkly Street, the proposed building (artist impression, right) will also include triple storey townhouses, a pedestrian walkway and a podium garden.
A ground floor artist studio and gallery space which will be made available for local artisans. One bedroom units will range in size between 37 and 47 square metres.
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Phillip Island’s Isle of Wight Pub Site Listed For Sale
SIXTEEN months after it was destroyed by fire – which was a month after it was permitted for demolition – the waterfront site where Phillip Island’s popular Isle of Wight hotel once stood is for sale.
The prominent and elevated property – which stares down the Cowes Jetty – measures 9197 square metres and runs behind many shops on the western side of Thompson Avenue, which is the sleepy hamlet’s main retail strip.
The Bass Coast council controversially approved the historic pub (pictured, above) be demolished in April 2010, despite it being recognised as one of South Gippsland’s most significant landmarks. The site is for sale with a permit for a nine-level resort and retail development with hotel rooms and apartments.
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Powercor to sell in Brooklyn
Powercor is selling a former State Electricity Commission facility in Brooklyn, 10 kilometres west of Melbourne. The 20 hectare block
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Federal Government to Offload CSIRO Highett Site Soon
ENDING years of speculation, the federal government is readying to sell one of the south-eastern suburb’s most anticipated development sites.
Under the guidelines of the Commonwealth Property Disposals Policy, the 9.5 hectare CSIRO Land and Research Highett Laboratory is expected to be offered for sale this financial year.
Bayside City Council held a meeting with the federal government late last month to pitch its thoughts for the site which runs between Highett and Bay roads, near the Highett train stations, about 16 kilometres from the CBD and near the more exclusive suburbs of Hampton and Sandringham.
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CR Kennedy Site, South Yarra, Relisted For Sale
ONE of last year’s biggest development site sales has fallen through forcing the asset to be relisted for sale this week.
The South Yarra property at 661 – 669 Chapel Street is one of the last undeveloped sites within a former industrial precinct known as Forrest Hill that is being rebuilt by various builders as a new village with residential and office skyscrapers.
Occupied and still owned by photographic distributor CR Kennedy, the 3537 square metre site was reported to have sold for $25 million last December to design practice Metier3, which had just offloaded its interest in a Docklands office worth $240 million. It was expected Metier3 would exploit the South Yarra site’s 65 metre frontage to Chapel Street with an apartment-based village.
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Westfield Sells Site Abutting Doncaster Shoppingtown
SYDNEY based shopping centre giant Westfield has sold an open-air car park abutting the Doncaster shopping centre’s north-east boundary.
The 5457 square metre site with a street address of 1 Grosvenor Street is believed to have sold for about $10 million after a public marketing campaign.
Westfield offered the site with a permit for a 185-unit apartment complex penned by boutique architect firm Rothelowman. The site, which backs onto the Saxon Reserve, was marketed by Knight Frank Glen Waverley’s Ken Smirk, Paul Henley and Todd Schaffer who declined to comment when contacted by The Age.
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Bunnings Pays $25 Million For Doncaster Supersite
HARDWARE giant Bunnings is believed to have paid about $25 million for a collection of adjoining sites abutting a major entrance of Westfield Doncaster shopping centre, about 14 kilometres east of town.
The ASX listed company is planning to build a warehouse on the 1.1 hectare supersite though a permit request has not yet been lodged with council.
Bunning’s parcel includes a 5250 square metre former service station site at 659 – 667 Doncaster Road which was until recently earmarked to become a major apartment tower. It also acquired the site next door, a 7-Eleven convenience store, at 669 – 671 Doncaster Road at the north-west corner of Council Street.
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Another Brighton Bathing Box Sells For Over $200,000
SOME Brighton mansions may be languishing on the market for months – and then end up selling for far less than initial asking prices. But demand for the suburb’s smallest real estate is continuing unabated – even selling for a nifty profit between economic downturns.
This week new Brighton agency Nick Johnstone Real Estate sold bathing box 40 on Dendy Beach, for $210,000 before a scheduled auction. The vendor bought the cream coloured wooden box two years ago for $170,000.
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St Kilda Triangle Proposal Back on the Agenda
A LEANER, greener proposal to redevelop the 1.5-hectare St Kilda Triangle site should be unveiled by next year – allowing construction to start soon after.
The City of Port Phillip, which includes many new councilors elected on the back of protesting a controversial 2007 proposal – has started a community consultation program designed to create a new vision for the blue ribbon asset, next door to the Palais Theatre, opposite St Kilda Beach.
Its recently released Toward a Shared Vision document summarises feedback from a public ideas forum held about the redevelopment in June. Amongst the 40 attendees were architects, planners, council staff and members of the Acland and Fitzroy street traders’ associations.
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CGA Bryson to Sell Camberwell Development Site
LOCAL developer CGA Bryson is selling a prominent Camberwell development site it bought just 15 months ago.
Opposite the City of Boroondara council offices, and the Camberwell Civic Centre, the 4383 square metre site at 347 Camberwell Road (aerial shot of site, pictured, right) is being offered with a permit to develop an 8277 square metre office building. Commercial office rents in Camberwell are amongst the most expensive in suburban Melbourne, achieving more than $300 per square metre, per annum in some cases.
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