Inner-city Melbourne warehouse fetches $11m
A major inner-city Melbourne industrial investment has traded for about $11 million.
Spanning 5760 square metres, or 1.42 acres, 44 Phoenix Street, Brunswick, found favour with a future occupier.
Just over half the 5218 sqm of improvements are leased to importer and wholesaler Ken Hands Agency (KHA).
The balance (2304 sqm) comprises a four bedroom apartment.
GrayJohnson’s Matt Hoath was the agent.
The deal comes a year since we reported the sale of the suburb’s Bunnings store – on 4045 sqm with 2400 sqm of improvements split by a laneway at 409-415 Sydney Road.
Melbourne City Mission also shed the historic Hartness House – an ex-orphanage once owned by the Salvation Army, now a childcare centre, on Albion St.
In 2024 meanwhile, Australian Unity divested a small Moreland Rd block it had earmarked to expand Brunswick Private Hospital,
Occupier, investor
The Phoenix St property was earning $185,709 annual income when it was listed in February.
Part of the property was occupied for more than 40 years by an engineering firm with some valuable infrastructure remaining including twin 10 tonne gantry cranes and a large power supply.
There is also a c196 sqm annex and extensive hardstand (continues below).
The deal values the Industrial 1 zoned land at c$1910 per sqm or $2109 sqm based on building area.
“A site of this scale, nearly 5,800 square metres of land, with 67 metres of frontage to a main industrial street, multiple roller shutter door access points, and a 10.3-metre warehouse clearance height doesn’t come to market in Brunswick with any regularity….when it does, there is no shortage of interest,” Mr Hoath said.
“The transaction is a defining characteristic of the current inner-north industrial market with the absence of comparable stock,” according to the executive.
“What made this sale particularly compelling was the ‘income while you occupy’ structure…the purchaser acquires a fully functional industrial complex, benefits from an immediate rental return from the tenanted portion of the building and can grow into the remaining space on their own terms and timeline,” he added.
“That combination of income and operational flexibility is rare to find inside the inner ring.
“Brunswick’s industrial precinct is largely built out….there is no new supply coming.
“The Metro Tunnel has reinforced the connectivity credentials of the inner north, and buyers who understand long-term land value are acting accordingly.
“New industrial supply across Melbourne is forecast at about 550,000 square metres in 2026, down from roughly 850,000 square metres the previous year, as developers increasingly shift toward pre-commitment driven projects rather than speculative development”.
Brunswick is about five kilometres north of town.
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