Charter Hall to Sell Eleven Former Foster’s Brewery Sites
The sites, totalling two hectares and dotted around the massive Carlton & United Brewery manufacturing and distribution facility in Abbotsford, were sold by the Foster’s Group in late 2007, for $41 million.
Charter Hall, which bought the portfolio with joint venture partner, Perth-based Wyllie Group, is hoping to break even by selling the sites individually to smaller developers, or investors.
However some sources say the sites could only fetch around $35 million in the current environment.
The Abbotsford properties are a mix of car parks, office buildings and factories, many with views of the Yarra River. They are leased to Foster’s until 2017.
Because of the long-term leases, Charter Hall did not seek planning approvals to redevelop any of the sites, spread over Bond, Duke and Grosvenor streets and Southampton Crescent.
Colliers International’s Nick Rathgeber and Gross Waddell’s Andrew Waddell are believed to be marketing the Abbotsford development sites, but declined to comment when contacted by Capital Gain.
Charter Hall escaped from buying another inner-city development site, at about the same time it was negotiating the Abbotsford purchases in 2007.
The group, as part of a consortium, is reported to have entered negotiations to buy Channel Nine’s Bendigo Street Richmond studio, and Willoughby studio in Sydney, for a speculated $180 million.
It was reported the consortium withdrew its offer early last year.
