Melbourne’s ex-Foy & Gibson department store sold
Coombes Property has bought Midtown Melbourne, the prominent Bourke Street Mall retail and office complex developed in the 1930s as a Foy & Gibson department store.
The $154 million deal with IFM Investors, which recently took over ISPT, comes some six months since Chris Langford’s Newmark Capital agreed to buy the asset, but didn’t settle.
ISPT on behalf of the Core Fund bought it in 2007 then refurbished and relet.
It is Coombes’ first major Melbourne asset; the group holds several Sydney properties including 46 Market Street and 68 York St, in the city, One Hurstville Plaza and The Exchange Bondi Junction, where it is headquartered on the fifth floor.
It also controls two major Brisbane CBD offices – 79 Adelaide St and 99 Creek St.
Midtown Melbourne
At 246 Bourke St, on the north east corner of Swanston, also exposed to Little Bourke, Midtown Melbourne contains about 15,000 square metres over nine levels.
The lower four floors are retail; tenants include HSBC, Chemist Warehouse, Daiso and W Cosmetics.
Japanese retailer Muji has also committed to a 10-year lease from 2027 for a three-level flagship, replacing the existing Telstra tenancy (continues below).
The fully leased annual income was marketed as $13m when it was listed last September.
The site spreads 2787 sqm.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Oliver Hay, Daniel Wolman, Trent Weir and Leon Ma were the agents.
MA Financial’s Chris Lock acted for the buyer.
The deal comes three months since we reported IFM sold the majority stake in Brisbane’s Uptown, formerly the Myer Centre.
It also recently shed a Coles anchored Tamworth shopping centre and is offering another anchored to the supermarket in Melbourne’s Brighton, a strata, part of an apartment complex.
Subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page.
