Dandenong Ranges Mount Royal Manor for sale

One of the Dandenong Ranges most imposing homes was put to the market this week.

Mount Royal Manor, a 143 square mansion set on two hectares of manicured gardens at 1317 Burwood Highway, Upper Ferntree Gully, is expected to sell for around $6 million after an international marketing campaign.

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Neighbours Actress Helps Sell Kew Home

Spectators at a recent twilight auction in Kew were treated to a bit of street theatre, with television actress Anne Scott Pendlebury (who played Aunt Hilary in Neighbours for more than ten years, and was also a star in Prisoner) dressing up in garb and greeting the crowd with cold drinks and stories, spoken in a plebian cockney accent.

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TV Personality Sells Milford Mansion in Kew

A Victorian couple has outbid two international parties for the landmark Milford mansion in Kew.

The Italianite mansion, built in the height of the 1850s gold rush, sold for in excess of $4 million after an international marketing campaign which saw five parties hotly contest the property to the very end.

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Lachlan REIT Leases Heidelberg Building to Hagemeyer Asia Pacific

Leighton Leasing Activity

Lachlan REIT this week announced a string of national lease deals which see two of its four funds become fully leased. The biggest Melbourne deal is the re-signing of Hagemeyer Asia Pacific to 456 Lower Heidelberg Road in Heidelberg for six years. The electrical distributor, responsible for brands including Smeg and Blanco, leases 3,617 square metres of the property.

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Lasseters International Close to Buying Holiday Inn, Melbourne, For $44 Million

MELBOURNE’s Holiday Inn Hotel in Flinders Street is believed to be close to sale to Singapore’s listed Lasseters International Holdings.

Lasseters is understood to be paying about $44 million fo the 4.5 star, 200-room hotel, which is being offloaded by Eureka Funds Management.

Eureka purchased the Holiday Inn, and eight other hotels as part of the $390 million purchase of the InterContinental Hotel Groups portfolio in 2005.

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Lend Lease Appointed to Develop Melbourne’s $870 Million Fruit, Vegetable and Flower Market, Epping

LEND Lease has been named as preferred builder, to develop Melbourne’s wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market in Epping.

Victorian Major Project Minister Tim Pallas made the announcement today, saying the $870 million project will create about 600 jobs.

The move will also give the government a swag of inner-city land parcels to consider selling, or developing. Much of the land is located in Melbourne’s inner-west, between the Docklands precinct and Footscray.

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RMIT’s Outgoing Building 87 to be Sold With Permit For 50-Level Apartment Tower

A CBD building, offloaded by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology five years ago, has been listed for sale this week as a major residential development site.
 
The 410 Elizabeth Street office, known to RMIT staff and students as Building 87, will be sold with a development permit for a 50-level apartment building, capable of accommodating hundreds of units.
 
The property is owned by developer Michael Buxton, who paid RMIT $8.25 million for the office in 2004, before working on obtaining a residential development permit.

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Crown Casino to Sell Crown College Facility, City Road Southbank

CROWN Casino’s outgoing Crown College training facility in City Road is expected to be sold and developed into a major apartment project.
 
Sources say two adjoining buildings between 141 and 155 City Road will be surplus to the casino’s needs once it relocates Crown College into the $300 million distinctive Crown Metropol hotel, which has been under construction all year.
 
Crown declined to comment about mounting speculation it is formalising the sale of the properties on the corner of Power Street, ahead of relocating the College.

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Victoria’s Biggest Builders Increase Market Share in 08/09

FIGURES released this week by the Housing Industry Association show Victoria’s biggest builders have managed to increase their market share despite the bleak economic backdrop.
 
The HIA said of the 41,818 home starts in Victoria for the 2008-2009 financial year, the state’s biggest 20 builders built 13,282 dwellings, compared with 11,727 dwellings in the previous year, when a similar number of new homes were constructed.

The HIA said Victoria’s top 20 builders now have a 32 per cent share of the market, compared to 28 per cent last year.

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DFO South Wharf, Melbourne, to Open October 15

MELBOURNE’s $750 million South Wharf project, at the point where Southbank meets Docklands, will become the city’s next DFO (Discount Factory Outlet).

The owners of the South Wharf and Spencer Street DFO outlet, Austexx, have confirmed a two year rumour that the 60,000 square metres of retail space within the South Wharf complex, will accommodate existing Spencer Street DFO tenants, and then some.

The Spencer Street DFO shopping centre will be refitted and rebranded simply as “Spencer Street”, once DFO tenants start relocating from October 15.

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Australian House Prices Tipped to Rise in 2010: RBA

RESERVE Bank of Australia head of economic analysis Tony Richards has warned Australian house prices will rise in the next 12 months, putting pressure on housing affordability – despite imminent interest rate rises.

At a Committee For Economic Development of Australia conference yesterday, facilitated by The Australian newspaper, Dr Richards said: “It is looking increasingly clear that Australia has avoided the large falls in house prices seen in some other countries over the past two years or so.”

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Melbourne City Council to Consider Shifting East Melbourne Suburb Border, to Appease Angry New Residents

THE Melbourne City Council will meet on October 6 to discuss shifting the suburb boundary of East Melbourne, to include a 19-level unique glass apartment building, built over train tracks, near Federation Square.

Residents have started moving into the prestigious project, which was marketed by developer Becton as “ONE EAST MELBOURNE” – but is in fact in an area defined as ‘Melbourne’, and arguably worth a lot less.

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Rose Porteous to Sell Toorak Pad, Again

FLAMBOYANT socialite Rose Porteous has listed her Toorak home for sale, again.
 
The 60-year old grandmother, who with husband Willie purchased her first Melbourne home in 2005, could reap as much as $7 million for the three-bedroom plus study home, on a 650 square metre block in ritzy Irving Road.
 
Rose paid a reported $4.9 million for the home in July 2007, before undertaking a renovation. The home includes a double height entrance hall with return staircase, formal and informal living and dining rooms, several private courtyards, and a triple car garage.
 

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Iris Lustig-Moar Sells Lucient Penthouse Shell

BUSINESSWOMAN, and BRW Rich 200 member, Iris Lustig-Moar has made about $4.75 million from the sale of an apartment shell, adjoining her own penthouse, on top of the luxurious Lucient building, at 430 St Kilda Road.
 
The co-director of architect and development firm Lustig & Moar, had originally planned to incorporate the apartment into her own, to create a super-penthouse some speculate could have had an end value of more than $12 million, and be one of the most expensive in the boulevard.

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Number of Retirement Village Units in Australia to Double by 2021: Ernst & Young

BY 2021, Australia will have twice the number of retirement village units than it does now, according to a new report by advisory firm Ernst & Young.

EY Real Estate Advisory Partner Marcus Willison said a new study, based on population trends in Australia and New Zealand, suggests Australia’s stock of retirement village units will increase by about 60,000 to more than 128,000 by 2021.

He said “the ageing population trend within both Austalia and New Zealand will have a marked impact upon the growth of the retirement village industry, with the number of people aged 65 and over forecast to double and triple in both countries within the next 35 years.”

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Melbourne Uni Pays $30 Million For New Carlton Office Building

C100 CarltonTHE University of Melbourne is continuing to seize properties around the northern city-fringe, this time paying about $30 million for the brand new C100 office complex in Carlton.
 
The University is believed to have made an offer to purchase the flash nine-level office at 100 Leicester Street last month, after negotiations to lease the entire 6,783 square metre building, fell through.
 
The University of Melbourne manager corporate affairs Christina Buckridge said C100 will accommodate the new Melbourne Graduate School of Education. She said the building is being fitted out, and will be occupied from early next year. The property was previously used as a car yard.

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More Than 10,000 White Collar Employees to Move to Docklands, Next 12 Months

TRAMS are being tested, and public transport users have less than a week to wait for the opening a new route connecting Collins Street to Merchant Street, an inland retail strip and a major part of Melbourne’s $12 billion Docklands redevelopment.
 
Merchant Street will connect the global headquarters of National Australia Bank, on the shores of Victoria Harbour, to the $620 million headquarters of ANZ Banking Group, which is nearing completion, on the banks of the Yarra River.
 
More than 10,000 white collar employees will relocate to Docklands over the next year, Knight Frank leasing agent Mark Rasmussen said, including staff from BP Australia, Fairfax Media, Myer, the Victorian Building Commission and VicUrban.

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St Kilda’s Westbeach Bathers Pavilion to Reopen

HAVING been saved from possible demolition about seven years ago, St Kilda’s Westbeach Bathers Pavilion will re-open next month as a high end café, restaurant and function centre.
 
The formerly rundown 800 square metre building at 330 Beaconsfield Parade, on the corner of Pier Road has been restored by a development consortium including kite boarding property developers Katani, in association with the City of Port Phillip.
 
Interiors within the 81-year old building have been refitted in a 1920s theme, and the redevelopment includes a new deck opening out to the beach.

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Macquarie, Lustig & Moar to Sell Prominent Southbank Apartment Tower Site

THE consortium that developed St Kilda Road’s luxurious Lucient apartment tower, has decided to sell, rather than develop, a prominent Southbank property.
 
Boutique architect firm Lustig & Moar, and Macquarie Real Estate Capital can expect to make about $14 million from the sale of prominent triangle shaped development site which abuts almost 100 metres of the busy off ramp between the West Gate Freeway and Kings Way.
 
The 42 – 48 Balston Street property will be sold with a development permit for a unique 37-level, 306-unit apartment complex. 

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Caydon Pays Mirvac $12 Million For Hawthorn Super Site Overlooking Glenferrie Oval

COLLINGWOOD-based developer Caydon is the mystery buyer to pay more than $12 million for a major Hawthorn development site, overlooking the Glenferrie Oval.
 
The collection of properties was offloaded by Mirvac, which had quietly spent several years amalgamating adjoining warehouses and offices between 291 and 311 Burwood Road, to create the 5,000 square metre super site.
 
Soon before listing the property for sale in August, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal granted Mirvac a permit to build a $120 million, 5-level office which at 18,800 square metres, would have been one of the biggest in the suburb. 

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Kraft set for South Wharf move

FOOD and beverage giant Kraft Foods will relocate its Melbourne staff from a Port Melbourne building originally built as a sophisticated British Aerospace research facility, to the $750 million South Wharf village, at the point where Southbank meets Docklands.
 
Kraft head of corporate affairs Simon Talbot confirmed it will lease 3,800 square metres of offices over two levels at the new South Wharf office building, and an additional 650 square metre balcony, which staff will use to entertain, and retreat.

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Dromana Sports & Fitness Centre to be Redeveloped Into Townhouse and Apartment Village

THE Mornington City Shire Council has approved plans to redevelop the Dromana Sports & Fitness Centre, into an apartment and townhouse complex.
 
A council spokeswoman confirmed the site’s owner, represented by planning, architect and interior design firm Graphos, plans to build 17 dwellings on the 57 – 59 Pier Street site, which is within walking distance to Dromana’s main retail centre and the Dromana Recreation Reserve. Buildings on the site are being demolished at the moment.

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DSV Air and Transport Relocates to Major Tullamarine Office Warehouse

DSV Air and Sea Transport has consolidated from two suburban offices to a 5,042 square metre office warehouse at 95 – 99 South Centre Road, near the Melbourne Airport, at Tullamarine.
 
The move has paved the way for logistics firm BTI Logistics to sub-let DSV’s outgoing but near-new 2,500 square metre Westmeadows facility at 62 – 66 Western Avenue – across the road from The Age Print Centre.
 
An undisclosed tenant is believed to have leased a 3,120 square metre office warehouse facility, also vacated by DSV, at 9 Trade Park Drive in Tullamarine.

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More Real Estate Agents Failing to Disclose Auction Sale Results

DODGY real estate agents are not posting auction results, in a move creating even more smoke and mirrors in the sector.

In a move not monitored by Victoria’s toothless tiger industry watchdog (Consumer Affairs Victoria), some 12 per cent of public auction results were not recorded in April 2009, compared to 5.1 per cent in April 2008.

The practice comes as agents tell consumers to refer to sale results, for a property’s price guide. At the same time, many agents are refusing to disclose estimated sale prices during a campaign, meaning Australian home buyers risk making a purchase based on very little reliable information.

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Mirvac Sells Assets in Doncaster, Maitland, For $27.4 Million

MIRVAC Real Estate Investment Trust has sold two investments for a combined total of $27.4 million.

In Melbourne, the group offloaded the Doncaster Corporate Centre at 591 – 609 Doncaster Road for $17.3 million. The sale includes a purpose built Silverstone Jaguar showroom and three office buildings. CB Richard Ellis was marketing agent for this property.

Mirvac also sold the Pender Place Shopping Centre in the NSW Hunter Valley town of Maitland for $10.1 million – about the same price it was purchased for in 2007.

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Lend Lease, Frank Hargrave, to Develop Major Residential Village on SKM Site, Overlooking Toorak Park

Toorak Park, ArmadaleLEND Lease will team with the founder and former CEO of Skilled Engineering, Frank Hargrave AO, to develop a major residential village abutting Toorak Park, in Melbourne’s ritzy south-eastern suburb of Armadale.
 
Lend Lease confirmed it entered a joint venture to redevelop the 2.5 hectare office site at 590 Orrong Road with Mr Hargrave’s Larkfield Holdings Pty Ltd, the owner of the land.
 
The site is bordered by Orrong Road, Osment Street and the northern boundaries of Victory Square Reserve and Toorak Park. It abuts the Toorak train station to the east, and a pedestrian bridge to the small Beatty Avenue retail strip.

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Richmond’s Tallest Office Earmarked For Viva Plastics Site on the, Monash Freeway Onramp

Cremorne OfficeRICHMOND’s tallest office building will be developed on a site at the busy onramp between Punt Road and the Monash Freeway.
 
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has given Melbourne-based developer Caydon the green light to build a nine-level office on the site of the former Viva Plastics warehouse, on the north-east corner of Harcourt Parade and Cremorne Street, next to the famous Nylex sign and silos.
 
Caydon paid $6.15 million for the prominent 3,050 square metre Richmond site last July.

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Ava Gardner & Frank Sinatra’s South Yarra Hideaway Listed For Sale

Ava Gardner & Frank SinatraTHE South Yarra motel at the centre of a saucy scandal involving Hollywood actress Ava Gardner, and crooner Frank Sinatra 50 years ago, is for sale.
 
Rooms within the St James Motel, at 35 Darling Street, accommodated Ms Gardner and a production crew during the 1959 filming of “On the Beach”, parts of which were shot in Berwick.
 
It was reported Frank Sinatra would often visit Ms Gardner during filming, despite the fact the couple divorced two years earlier.  Sinatra left his wife and three kids in 1951, to marry Gardner – who had already been married twice before. 

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Safeway to Open 4,000 Square Metre Supermarket in Hive, Victoria Street Abbotsford

UNINVITING inner-city retail strip Victoria Street, at the suburb border of Abbotsford and the precinct known as North Richmond has attracted a second major retail tenant.
 
Woolworths this week confirmed a 20-year, 4,000 square metre retail lease at Hive, a $50 million shopping centre and residential project, being developed on a 5,000 square metre site on the north-west corner of Nicholson Street.
 
Woolworths will join rival Aldi, a large pharmacy, and 22 specialty retailers at Hive, which is due to open in February. 

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Planning Minister Justin Madden to Unveil Last Stage of Becton’s Jolimont Rail Yard Development

Justin MaddenPLANNING Minister Justin Madden will open Becton’s distinctive glass One East Melbourne apartment complex later this month.
 
The tower is the final piece in a 17-year redevelopment of the former Jolimont rail yards, which Becton acquired from the State Government in stages.
 
One East Melbourne includes a 19-level, 85-unit apartment tower, topped by a rooftop garden. 

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Former Pacific Brands Office to be Redeveloped Into George Apartments

EVOLVE Development, the construction company of Fairfax chairman Ron Walker and business identity Ashley Williams, has unveiled images of its $45 million George apartment project in North Melbourne.
 
The 8-storey Hassell designed tower will be developed at 97 Flemington Road, on the south-east corner of Harcourt Street, and will replace a double-storey office until recently occupied by clothes manufacturer Pacific Brands.

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Interior Designer David Hicks Pays $3 Million For St Kilda Road Apartment

INTERIOR designer David Hicks is understood to have paid more than $3 million for a luxury St Kilda Road apartment, built on what was once the site of a rundown office and shopping plaza.
 
Hicks, who was a judge on Channel Nine’s recent television show homeMade, is speculated to have purchased a 3-bedroom apartment at 401 St Kilda Road, a boutique complex developed by Pan Urban, the construction company of business identity and publisher of The Monthly, Morry Schwartz.

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