Carlton footballer turned property developer Fraser Brown has sold a near-new suburban Melbourne office for $24.8 million.

The buyers are Cadence Property Group, led by Charlie Buxton, and Align Property Partners, founded by Guy French-Wright and Jack Mahoney.

The four-level, 2947 square metre building at 2-4 Roche Street, Hawthorn, hit the market last June.

Mr Brown offered it with a 10-year leaseback over part of the ground floor.

Since retiring from AFL, the executive has led Brown Property Group, established by father Colin, behind growth corridor Melbourne residential estates for more than 60 years.

Another level of the building is vacant, though it is understood the incoming owners have a tenant for it.

2-4 Roche Street

Mr Brown acquired the 1201 sqm Commercial 1-zoned Hawthorn site in 2017 (continues below).

He paid $9m.

That seller had earmarked the property for a residential project, with 54 apartments.

Mr Brown completed the A-grade office with 91 car parks and 54 bike bays in 2024.

The property incudes terraces, end-of-trip facilities, including grooming and ironing stations, a ground floor café.

CBRE’s Nick Peden and Jamus Campbell were the agents.

The deal comes 10 days since realestatesource.com.au reported Melbourne-based Align was in negotiations for its maiden Sydney investment, an office, for $85m.

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Vantage Property Investments has effectively broken even on the sale of the ex-Leader Newspapers headquarters, which it bought from News Corp Australia eight years ago.

The three-level office at 1 Chapel Street, Blackburn, is trading to Trident Capital Group, for $30.25 million.

The result reflects a 9.23 per cent passing floor.

With 5813 square metres, it was marketed as fully leased to six tenants including Community Housing, Fire Rescue Victoria and Lawrence and Hanson.

There are also 217 car parks including in a basement.

Part of the 7247 sqm Commercial 1 zoned block is permit-ready for 168 apartments.

0.17pc capital gain

Vantage Property Investments paid News Corp $30.2m for 1 Chapel St; it was mostly vacant with Leader committed to the balance until 2023.

The landlord later spent $4.4m on capital works, refurbishing the ground floor to accommodate three additional office tenants and a cafe before converting the building into a multi-tenanted investment.

When it was listed for sale, the weighted average lease expiry was 3.4 years.

The NABERS Energy rating is 4.5-star.

Vantage also secured planning approval in 2025 for two apartment buildings – of eight and nine storeys – with 168 dwellings on the rear portion, with ground-floor retail and basement parking.

CBRE’s Trent Hobart with Savills’ Nick Peden, Jamus Campbell and Tim Grant were the agents (continues below).

Office trades between fund managers

Trident will hold the property for the Pinnacle Diversified Property Fund which called on wholesale investors last month for $20m.

The balance will be funded a senior debt facility from an Australian bank.

The five-year fund is targeting an 18pc internal annual net return and initial distributions of 7-8pc paid quarterly.

Settlement is scheduled in mid-December.

The deal comes a year since realestatesource.com.au reported Accord Property sold the neighbouring Salvation Army national headquarters to Perth-based Ascot Capital.

Meanwhile, mid-last year, Pace Development Group sold a strata component of its Pace of Blackburn apartment-based mixed-use complex, abutting 1 Chapel St.

Both Trident and Vantage are Melbourne-based.

Trident was founded in 2017 by Chin He, Haydn Stewart and Jenny Wang, initially as an accounting and advisory business before expanding into property investment.

Vantage, established in 1984, is led by chief executive and owner Matt Spring, who joined in 2005 after roles with Teska Carson and CBRE.

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A diversified construction group has quietly bought a large Melbourne industrial property for $14.5 million.

The 1.22 hectare holding, 35-43 Strzelecki Avenue, Sunshine West, curried favour with Hamilton Marino.

Inotek was the seller.

Also the last occupier, the asset was used to manufacture timber frames, roof trusses and prefabricated wall systems.

The deal comes eight weeks since realestatesource.com.au reported infrastructure group Fulton Hogan bought an ex-Suez waste plant, in Dandenong South, from Charter Hall.

In June, the freehold going concern to Dandenong Frankston Concrete Products, actually in Dandenong South, sold, for a speculated $36m.

Sunshine West is 13 kilometres west of Melbourne’s CBD.

35-43 Strzelecki Avenue

The Sunshine North property contains two adjoining warehouses and offices – all up with 6078 square metres (continues below).

There is also a substantial power capacity – 500 amps to one warehouse and 80 amps to the other – and a rear canopy allowing all-weather loading.

The Industrial 2 zoned site has drive-around access, 78 car parks and is secure.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Samantha Sullivan and David Norman with Knight Frank’s Steve Jones and Joel Davy were the agents.

Sunshine West shed

Abbotsford-based Hamilton Marino, which operates across construction and project management, has a portfolio spanning residential, mixed-use, hotel, student accommodation and commercial projects.

The acquisition was made through Hamilton & Marino Property Pty Ltd.

The property last sold in February 2023 for $11.5m.

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A Gold Coast office leased to ASX-listed education group NextEd has sold for $15.25 million.

The three-level building at 56 Nerang Street, Southport, previously sold in April 2023, for $8.35m.

Based on the annual net rent, the on-sale was struck at a 7.53 per cent yield.

Colliers’ Steven King and MP Commercial’s Mike Walsh and Peter Court were the agents.

The incoming owner is a local private investor.

Southport is about seven kilometres north of Surfers Paradise.

Another Southport deal

On 944 square metres in the Southport Priority Development Area, 56 Nerang St contains 2208 sqm of lettable area and 25 car parks.

The building recently underwent c$4.5m in capital works including upgrades to air conditioning, fire services, tenant amenities and fit-out (continues below).

NextEd leases the property from Clark Property Partners.

The rental agreement started in September 2023.

Annual net rent is $1,147,946 with CPI-linked reviews between 3.5-4.75pc.

The weighted average lease expiry was 7.5 years when the property was listed in March 2026.

In June, realestatesource.com.au reported the Crisafulli government listed a site, also in the Southport Priority Development Area, expected to accommodate over 300 apartments.

In April the Southport home to radio station Hot Tomato 102.9FM sold for $17.8m.

Last year, Autosports Group Limited outlaid $17.6m for three adjoining offices leased to Centrelink until early 2028. The ASX-listed car giant is set to move in after that, for a Mercedes-Benz dealership.

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David Jones’ private equity owner is reportedly exploring a sale of the 188-year-old department store as mounting supplier arrears, departing brands and lender intervention threaten its turnaround.

Anchorage Capital Partners has reportedly engaged restructuring advisers McGrathNicol to approach potential buyers.

Brett Blundy’s Brands Collective, UK-based Frasers Group, Authentic Brands Group and rival department store operator Myer are believed to have been contacted.

Voluntary administration could become an option, it is speculated, if the retailer cannot stabilise its finances. No sale or insolvency appointment has been confirmed.

David Jones for sale?

Lender Hilco Capital has provided an additional $10 million to help fund stock purchases ahead of Christmas, following a reported breach of a loan covenant.

The funding is intended to support supplier payments and maintain inventory.

David Jones’ supplier relationships have deteriorated, with some demanding upfront payment.

Accent Group stopped supplying David Jones in July, while labels including Acler, Effie Kats, Significant Other and Aston Studio have shifted to exclusive arrangements with Myer.

Luxury brands have also retreated: Gucci has exited, Dior has withdrawn shoes and handbags, and Chanel has stopped selling shoes through the retailer while retaining its cosmetics concession (continues below).

Country Road Group, owned by South Africa’s Woolworths Holdings, plans to remove almost 100 of its more than 280 concessions across David Jones stores from early 2027.

The reductions affect Country Road, Witchery, Mimco, Trenery and Politix.

The financial pressure follows a $95.5m pre-tax loss for the year to June 2025 against $74.1m the previous year.

Sales fell 8.7pc to $2 billion and underlying earnings declined 13.2pc to $176.48m.

Anchorage acquired David Jones from Woolworths Holdings in March 2023 and subsequently backed a $250m transformation program covering store refurbishments, digital operations and its customer offering.

The retailer has since closed outlets at Tuggerah and Castle Towers.

It operates 38 stores across Australia and New Zealand including its flagship properties in Melbourne’s Bourke Street – sold early last year for $223.5m.

In 2020 Woolworths also sold Sydney’s Elizabeth Street store (pictured, top) to Charter Hall for $510m while the former menswear store, also on the Bourke Street Mall, was divested for $121m to Chris Langford’s Newmark Capital.

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Benstead Holdaway has snapped up a Goodlife-anchored healthcare investment in Brisbane, held 20 years.

The 8942 square metre property at 803 Creek Road, Carindale, sold for $22.5 million – a 6.37 per cent initial yield.

With c3600 square metres, tenants include Creek Road General Practice, Optima Sports Medicine Carindale, Brisbane Posture and Performance Chiropractic and Kingswim Carindale.

Goodlife is the anchor tenant under a 25-year lease expiring in 2031.

The asset also includes 173 car parks.

The property was sold by Sydney-based investors who paid $8.2m in June 2006.

Then, the land rate was $917 per sqm.

It is now $2516 per sqm.

803 Creek Road

Benstead Holdaway was co-founded by developer Mike Tomkins, who established Tomkins Commercial & Industrial Builders in 1993.

Mr Tomkins’ family has been in the building industry since 1951, when his grandfather established E.D. Tomkins Building Company (continues below).

Lawyer Nick Stevens is the ither founder.

It invests and develops.

Brisbane warehouse

Carindale is 10 kilometres south-east of the CBD.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Sam Polichronis marketed 803 Creek Rd.

“We were delighted to secure this substantial landholding in a thriving inner-Brisbane location, supported by established tenants and quality improvements,” Mr Stevens said.

“We see excellent potential to build on those foundations and reinvigorate this important asset for the local community,” he added.

In August, realestatesource.com.au reported Cbus Property bought Westfield Carindale from Lendlease’s Australian Prime Property Fund Retail.

Carindale Property Trust – the co-owner – valued its 50pc stake at $814.1m in its 2026 annual report released that month.

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Rio Tinto will establish its Perth headquarters in a 53,158 square metre office tower set to start construction in Perth’s CBD.

The mining giant has signed a 15-year lease over the entire office component of BGRE’s third and final Elizabeth Quay tower.

The building will rise 27 storeys.

A landscaped dining laneway will also form part of the design.

Rio Tinto currently occupies office space at Central Park, 152–158 St Georges Terrace, Raine Square and Perth Airport.

Major pre-commitment

Elizabeth Quay is masterplanned with three offices.

The Rio Tinto tower will also contain 1000 sqm of retail.

Typical office floor plates will exceed 2000 sqm (continues below).

Multiplex has been appointed builder, with construction set to start in December 2026 and be complete in 2030.

BGRE was until recently known a Brookfield.

Elizabeth Quay

The Rio Tinto office will complete Brookfield’s Elizabeth Quay complex, following One The Esplanade, which opened in 2023 with Chevron as anchor tenant, and Nine The Esplanade, completed in 2025.

Other occupiers across the precinct include Inpex, EY, Hub Australia, Multiplex, MinterEllison, Herbert Smith Freehills, Lavan Legal and Argonaut.

Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive and Australia country head Matthew Holcz said the new headquarters would bring employees together in a purpose-built workplace.

The building would also offer a competitive cost per desk comparable with the current arrangement.

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Charter Hall has taken a haircut selling a Woolworths-backed industrial investment held five and a half years.

The cold storage and distribution centre at 2-4 Bender Drive, Derwent Park, sold this week for $13.375 million – a 5.84 per cent net passing yield.

The tenant, PFD Food Services, expanded the improvements in 2025 at its own expense.

Charter Hall held the asset on behalf of the Prime Industrial Fund.

The buyer is an interstate private investor introduced by CBRE’s Private Wealth Asian Investment Services team.

Earlier this week, realestatesource.com.au reported Charter Hall bought a Fortitude Valley office development site for $32.8m.

Don O’Rorke’s Consolidated Properties assembled the three sites, obtained a permit for a 10-level office and secured the Australian Federal Police as tenant before selling the amalgamated holding off-market.

Hobart sale falls short

On 1.385 hectares, the Hobart property contains a 4520 square metre cold storage and distribution centre.

The 15-year lease runs to 2036, with fixed annual rent increases of 2.8pc.

PFD has seven five-year options (extending occupancy to 2071).

It also picks up all outgoings, including council rates, land tax, building insurance, public liability insurance and management fees (continues below).

Charter Hall paid $13.747m, settling in April, 2021.

It was represented for the on sale by CBRE’s Yosh Mendis.

Derwent Park is seven kilometres north of Hobart’s CBD.

Portfolio history

Charter Hall acquired the Derwent Park property as part of a $269.4m purchase of 25 cold storage and food distribution centres in 2021 from PFD Food Services – then owned by the Smith family.

The portfolio comprised about 29.3ha of land and 82,331 sqm of lettable area.

Woolworths agreed in August 2020 to acquire a 65pc interest in PFD alongside the Smith family, with the deal completed in mid-2021.

Woolworths subsequently bought the balance (35pc) after minority shareholders triggered their put option in August 2024, with the acquisition finalised in the first half of FY25.

At the time, Charter Hall said 54pc of CPIF’s portfolio was leased to food and beverage companies including ALDI, Arnott’s, Coca-Cola Amatil, Coles, Lion Dairy, Metcash and Woolworths.

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AI uptake is set to shape the next phase of data centre growth in Australia, increasing the scale, infrastructure requirements and investment intensity, new CBRE research shows.

CBRE’s Australia Data Centres 2026 report identified AI accelerating demand, power availability, deliverable supply, differentiated asset quality, and selective capital as key themes that will define the next phase of growth for the asset class.

CBRE’s Head of Data Centres Research, Australia, Sass Jalili said while cloud adoption, digitalisation and hyperscale expansion continue to underpin Australia’s data centre expansion, increased AI-driven workloads have introduced a new layer of demand for the sector.

“What is changing is the scale, capital intensity and physical requirements of development,” Ms Jalili said.

“The next phase of growth will increasingly be determined by access to secured power, infrastructure readiness, experienced operators and creditworthy customers. As development requirements intensify, the ability to deliver operational capacity will become an increasingly important differentiator”.

The report notes electricity availability is beginning to broaden location consideration for data centres.

CBRE’s Pacific Director, Data Centres, Darcy Frawley said the optimal location for a data centre increasingly sits at the intersection of power and community support.

“Australia’s data centre footprint remains highly concentrated in Sydney and Melbourne. However, as new campuses require substantially more power and face increasing social licensing issues, strong consideration is being given to where the next frontier of development is.

“Growth opportunities are broadening geographically, with significant expansion planned in Perth, Brisbane and Darwin. In the past nine months we’ve also seen the emergence of regional locations, such as La Trobe Valley and Hunter Valley regions, where scalable power can be secured, sometimes with support from behind the meter generation,” Mr Frawley added (continues below).

The report shows data centres continue to attract significant institutional capital, with direct investment across Asia-Pacific reaching US$11.6 billion in 2025, reflecting the sector’s growing importance as a core infrastructure asset class.

In Australia, the investment opportunity is expected to expand considerably. CBRE’s October 2026 research forecast shows Australia’s investable data centre universe is expected to grow by approximately 90% to A$57 billion by 2030.

Australian data centre operators raised A$35 billion across debt and equity funding in 2026 to early September, up from A$24 billion in 2025.

Mr Frawley noted Australia is one of Asia Pacific’s leading data centre markets underpinned by substantial installed capacity base and strong future development pipeline.

“Capital expenditure by the world’s largest technology companies is accelerating sharply as hyperscalers invest in cloud and AI infrastructure,” he said.

“Australia is increasingly participating in this investment cycle. Major global technology companies are expanding domestic cloud, compute, and AI infrastructure reinforcing Sydney and Melbourne as strategic locations within their regional networks,” Mr Frawley added.

A copy of the report can be found following this link.

Australians estimate they waste $165 a month on purchases they consider unnecessary, with the cumulative cost potentially running to tens of thousands of dollars in mortgage interest.

A survey commissioned by insurer Youi found 93 per cent of respondents believed they wasted at least some money each month, while half estimated their unnecessary spending at $100 or more.

One in four estimated they wasted $200 or more a month.

Impulse online shopping was the most commonly cited money-wasting habit, nominated by 51pc of respondents.

It was followed by takeaway orders at 49pc and subscriptions that were rarely used at 48pc.

The survey of 1071 Australians found convenience was also a factor in discretionary spending, with 59pc reporting they spent money on convenience purchases at least monthly because they lacked time.

Uber eats savings

Analysis by Savvy, based on a 6.5pc interest rate and 25-year principal-and-interest loan, found an extra $165 a month could save $66,910 in interest on a $731,000 mortgage (as the average new owner-occupier loan size, based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data for the June quarter of 2026) and shorten the repayment period one year and 10 months.

Increasing the additional monthly payment to $200 would lift the estimated interest saving to $79,428 and cut the loan term by two years and three months.

Smaller contributions could also reduce borrowing costs (continues below).

An extra $50 a month on the same loan would save an estimated $21,796 in interest and bring the loan’s repayment date forward by seven months.

On a $400,000 mortgage, an additional $165 a month would save $61,844 in interest and shorten the loan term by three years and two months, under the same interest-rate and repayment assumptions.

The estimates assume the interest rate remains unchanged throughout the loan and that the borrower continues making the additional payments.

“Making non-essential or convenience purchases shouldn’t need to be cut out entirely for most Australians to make a difference on their home loan,” Savvy mortgage broker Daniel Carter said.

“With cost-of-living creep continuing to keep a tight grip on many Aussies’ finances, it’s important for many to treat themselves every once in a while,” he added.

“However, it’s still important to take stock of your spending habits and see where you can make life easier for your future self,” according to the executive.

“Cutting back on takeaway or online shopping by half, a third or even a quarter each month where you’re able to do so mightn’t be exactly what you want, but it could deliver savings to the tune of tens of thousands across the life of your mortgage”.

Borrowers can generally make additional repayments or use an offset account, where available, to reduce the interest charged on their home loan.

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