Spotless Group Leases Entire St Kilda Road Office Building, Melbourne

SPOTLESS Group has leased an entire St Kilda Road office building, and will relocate its headquarters from the Melbourne CBD.

The cleaning services and management company, currently based at 350 Queen Street, has leased about 9200 square metres at the 549 St Kilda Road building previously known as AIG House.

The rent Spotless will pay has not been disclosed, but industry sources speculate it circles about $250 per square metre, per annum, before incentives (a lure usually offered in the way of a fit-out, or rental discount). This is low compared to the CBD, Southbank and Docklands.

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Ladro Prahran Restaurant For Sale

A PRAHRAN eatery leased to restaurateurs Frank Van Haandel, Ingrid Langtry and Sean Kierce, is for sale and expected to fetch between $4.3 and $4.5 millon.

The single-storey Ladro restaurant at 162 – 162A Greville Street is on a 345 square metre block, and leased for five years with three five year options. The restaurateurs, who founded the first Ladro restaurant in Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, pay a current annual rent of $208,000 to occupy the Prahran site.

The restaurant was fully refurbished in 2010 and has a 24-hour liquor licence. Gross Waddell’s Jonathon McCormack and Michael Gross are the marketing agents.

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Dinner Plain’s Under The Moonlight For Sale

AWARD winning Alpine chalet Under The Moonlight has been listed for private sale.

The opulent Dinner Plain home, developed by R&R Van Heek Builders, won the 2009 Housing Industry Association’s Colorbond Most Innovative Use of Steel award. Judges said Under The Moonlight “commands attention and yet does not over-impose on the area’s natural landscape.”

Under the Moonlight is part of the highest approved freehold land in Australia, and ten minutes from Mount Hotham. Dinner Plain is about a five hour drive, or almost 400 kilometres from Melbourne.

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Toorak’s Little Milton Hits The Market, Price Expectations Circa $13 Million

LITTLE Milton, the luxurious home of late businessman and Corona Group executive John Batkin quietly hit the market this week.

The circa 1926, five-bedroom mansion (pictured, right) is at the north-east corner of Whernside Avenue, and Albany Road – which most advocates and agents agree is Toorak’s most expensive street.

Recently, a new tennis court was developed atop a 12-car underground garage, Little Milton’s overall block size is 2476 square metres.

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Australian Unity & Australand Lodge DA for Bowral Retirement Village

Joint venture partners Australian Unity and Australand have lodged a DA with the Wingecarribee Shire Council in the Southern Highlands for a new retirement living community on the 17 hectare site of the former Our Lady of the Sacred Heart centre on Centennial Road, in Bowral.

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Tony Mokbel’s Former Brunswick Mansion Hits The Rental Market

DIEHARD underbelly fans can live a piece of the underworld lifestyle, with Tony Mokbel’s former family home, in Brunswick, quietly hitting the rental market.

The five bedroom mansion at 9 – 11 Downs Street (pictured, right) was offered for sale early last year, but the listing, nor sale – which settled earlier this year – could be reported because of a recently lifted suppression order.

The new owners are asking $1300 per week for the double-storey home which police believe Mokbel funded through drug activities. The registered owner while he occupied the home was Mokbel’s sister-in-law, Renate.
Ownership of the Brunswick property was transferred to the Attorney General of Victoria in late 2009, under the Confiscation Act 1997.

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Richmond-Tweed Heads Region, NSW, Fastest Growing Precinct in State

Data showing that population growth in the Richmond-Tweed region has been faster than any other part of NSW in the past two years is evidence that Australians are prepared to move in search of a better lifestyle according to the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW). It also accords with the latest property prices released by the Institute, which show house prices in the area grew 11% in the last quarter – among the highest of any regional location. 

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RACV Calls For New Thoroughfare to Connect Melbourne’s East and West

AS PLANNERS continue to approve major new housing estates in Melbourne’s (until-recently-forgotten) western suburbs, a powerful state motoring body has called on the new state government to build a new major road thoroughfare, for what will be an imminent surge in car traffic.

The RACV forecasts 20,000 extra car trips will be travelled based on residential development at one new western suburb proposal alone, recently announced by Lend Lease (refer link below).

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Another Slice of Historic Sorrento Property Hits The Market

THREE months after telling Domain he had no intention of doing so, Richard Sheldermine – a member of the Myer dynasty – is selling another subdivided piece of the historic Sorrento property known as The Sisters.

This time, it’s a 2946 square metre waterfront portion being offered, with price expectations of some $10 million.

Earlier this year, Richard reaped $6.5 million selling a 1915 square metre subdivided slice of the estate at 3080 Point Nepean Road.

Richard paid $18.4 million for the historic 1.2 hectare site in early 2008 (pictured, right), before successfully applying to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to slice it five ways.

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Prominent Pubs, and a Western Suburbs Development Site, Offered in $80 Million Portfolio

SOME of Melbourne’s most popular hospitality venues – and a major western suburb development site – form part of an $80 million portfolio of properties set to hit the market next month.

A consortium of Melbourne-based private investors, including Sebastian Catalfamo and Gilbert Cabral, will share in the spoils of the eight properties which are being offered separately.

In Melbourne, hospitality venues include The Point on Albert Park Lake – a 940-seat venue which is expected to sell for about $3 million.

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Paul Grabowski to Sell St Kilda East Home

COMPOSER, pianist and one-time television personality Paul Grabowsky, is moving out of St Kilda East, in Melbourne.

Grabowsky, who is renowned for his passion of jazz music, can expect some $1.5 million from the sale of his renovated four bedroom Californian Bungalow which will be auctioned next month.

The Papua New Guinea born musician grew up in suburban Melbourne’s Glen Waverley and first studied music at age five. His passion for jazz started at 16, while at Wesley College which was one of the few Melbourne colleges at the time to boast a jazz ensemble.

After travelling and performing for several years, Grabowski returned to Melbourne in 1986, later landing a high profile job as band front-man for Network Seven’s popular Tonight Live With Steve Vizard show, which ran from 1990 to 1993.

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Macquarie CountryWide Trust Sells Five Assets For $92.6 Million

Macquarie CountryWide Trust (ASX:MCW) today announced it has entered into unconditional contracts with various parties for the sale of five assets (four in Australia and one in the US) for A$92.6 million [1], reflecting an average initial yield of 7.7%.  The sale proceeds will be used to reduce debt and position the Trust to meet its refinancing obligations in the second half of 2009.

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Balmain Sells Surfers Paradise Development Site at Huge Loss

BALMAIN Trilogy has reported a huge loss on the sale of a beachfront development site at Northcliffe Terrace, Surfers Paradise.

Balmain sold the site to a Sydney investor this month for about $6 million, far less than the $14.5 million it paid at a more buoyant time in Queensland’s real estate market.

The seven-storey 1980s complex, with 20 strata flats is on a 1151 square metre block, and sold with a permit for an 18-level tower with 14 dwellings.

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Google and Accenture Fully Lease workplace6 Office Building in Sydney

GPT today announced that the Group had successfully fully leased all the office space at the Group’s workplace6 development, NSW’s first 6 star Green Star building, well ahead of initial expectations. Internet company Google, and global management consulting company, Accenture have agreed to lease the office space at workplace6, an 18,000 sqm waterfront office complex developed by the GPT Group in conjunction with Citta Property Group.

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Biggest US REIT May Pay $150 Million For Melbourne Hotel

THE largest lodging real estate investment trust in the United States may be moving into the Melbourne hotel market.

According to the AFR, Host Hotels & Resorts is eyeing the $150 million Hilton Melbourne South Wharf complex, at the riverside junction that divides the CBD from Southbank and Docklands.  The hotel was listed for sale by private developer Plenary which is expected to maintain some stake in the hotel.

A Host spokesperson confirmed it was “exploring acquisition and development opportunities” in the Asia Pacific.

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GPT Announces New Building For Pyrmont, Sydney

The GPT Group is pleased to announce workplace6, an 18,000 sqm waterfront office complex in Pyrmont, Sydney, currently being developed by the Group in conjunction with the Citta Property Group, has been awarded the first 6 Star Green Star – Office Design v2 Certified Rating by the Green Building Council of Australia.

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Lloyd Williams to Offload Ascot Vale Development Site, Near Flemington Racetrack

MILLIONAIRE entrepreneur Llloyd Williams has quietly listed for sale a horse stable complex opposite the Melbourne Showgrounds, and near the western boundary of the Flemington Racecourse.

In a residential street, the Ascot Vale property is configured as a double-storey home at the front, with equine facilities, at the rear. The commercial component includes 17 stables and an office. The property has rear lane access.

Measuring 1049 square metres, the block is large by inner-city standards, and is being marketed as a residential development site. Apartments within any new project would capture unobstructed city views over the racecourse. Nelson Alexander Ascot Vale’s Andrew Johnston will auction 14 Leonard Crescent at midday, May 14, when it’s expected to sell for between $1.2 and $1.3 million.

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Victoria Has Australia’s Richest and Poorest Average Workers: ATO

SUBURBS in Victoria accommodate Australia’s wealthiest and poorest average workers.

According new Australian Taxation Office research, Portsea (pictured, right), about 90 minutes south of Melbourne, is home to the country’s highest earners in 2008-2009, up from third position a year earlier (those 2007-08 figures were released last year).

The average income for Portsea residents was $198,987 per annum.

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CBA Leases 8500 Square Metres at 357 Collins Street, Melbourne

COMMONWEALTH Bank of Australia has leased 8500 square metres of refurbished office space within the Collins Street building that once acted as Melbourne’s stock exchange.

The lease, for levels 6 to 10, are for an initial 10-year period. CBA is paying rent of $385 per square metre, per annum, presumably prior to incentives (discounts offered off this “face” rent, common in most CBD leases nowadays).

Australand purchased the vacant building from Asian investors last year, which failed to relaunch the building as an apartment project. Sources say that residential conversion would never have worked given the building only has a handful of car spaces.

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Lend Lease Announces $1 Billion Mixed Use Village at Werribee, west of Melbourne

LEND Lease has launched a new $1 billion mixed use village at Werribee, in Melbourne’s middle-western suburbs.

The 438 hectare site will make way for 4000 homes, four schools and a new neighbourhood shopping centre. The first blocks will hit the market in mid 2012, and the project is expected to take ten years to complete.

The price Lend Lease paid for the land has not yet been reported. Below is an announcement by the Sydney-based developer and fund manager.

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Sydney apartment market kicks into action

New housing data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the Sydney market is gathering pace, fuelled by a demand for apartments significantly outstripping that for single dwellings. In November, approvals were granted for the building of 1805 apartments in Sydney, more than tripling the October figure.

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Gillon Group Acquires Brighton East Supersite

BAYSIDE developer Gillon Group has quietly acquired a supersite at one of the south-eastern suburb’s busiest corners.

Gillon has negotiated with residential home owners, commercial property owners, VicRoads and the council to amalgamate some seven Brighton East lots into a 7500 square metre development site. At the north-west corner of Nepean Highway and South Road, the site incorporates Barr Street, and former public land.

It plans to rebuild the site – opposite the Kingston City Hall and Moorabbin train station – into a $100 million-plus mixed-use village with around 200 apartments in what could be a seven level tower.

Gillon has not disclosed the price it paid to buy and amalgamate the sites. Local agent sources however value the land at about $2000 per square metre, meaning Gillon’s block could fetch about $15 million if onsold.

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Actors Reg Gorman and Judith Roberts to Sell St Kilda East Apartment

ACTORS Reg Gorman and Judith Roberts are selling a renovated apartment in St Kilda East’s historic Ardoch development.

Built in 1922, Ardoch is reportedly one place Dame Nellie Melba stayed when in town, and where Russian spy Mrs Petrov was hidden.

At 8 Ardoch Avenue (pictured,right), the two bedroom apartment will be auctioned at 11:30am this Saturday and is expected to sell for about $700,000. Marshall White Armadale’s John Manton is the marketing agent.

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John Foreman to Sell St Kilda West Penthouse

MUSICAL director, pianist, composer – and inadvertent television personality – John Foreman is selling a waterfront St Kilda West penthouse.

The three-bedroom apartment, with basement underground parking for two cars, will be auctioned at 12:30pm next Saturday where it’s expected to fetch between $930,000 and $1.02 million.

With a study nook and three balconies, the penthouse at 358 Beaconsfield Parade captures water views from the open plan living/dining room, and one of the bedrooms.

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Councils crying poor while hoarding hundreds

The Property Council of Australia has criticised advertisements by the Local Government Association of NSW and Shires Association of NSW calling on the NSW Government to delay reforms which would stop councils hoarding taxpayers’ money as a misguided attempt to preserve an unsustainable and unfair funding system.

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Major 24-Level Skyscraper Proposed For Footscray

SPOTTING Footscray from the CBD, Geelong, Melbourne Airport, or any building in metropolitan Melbourne with a westerly outlook may be a lot easier from next year.

New planning minister Matthew Guy is reviewing an application for a 24-level, 222-unit complex which, if approved, would be the most ambitious skyscraper ever built in Melbourne’s western suburbs.

The $90 million proposal, which will also include ground floor shops and a five-level underground car park will replace a double-storey factory bound by Moreland and Warde streets, and Neilson Place. The site is west of the Le Mans Toyota dealership which recently sold for $21 million to the state government’s development arm, VicUrban.

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Historic Balwyn Mansion Canonbury For Sale Again

HISTORIC Balwyn estate Canonbury has hit the market again.

Built in the 1860s for leading land and commission broker Edward Lamont, Canonbury at 9 Barnsbury Road has since been owned by businessman John Elliott and former AFL commissioner, the late Ron Evans.

The five bedroom, five bathroom renovated Victorian mansion sits amid a Baron von Mueller designed garden, with a 141-year old Spanish cork oak tree.

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Another Church Bows to Pressure For Medium Density Residential

YET another house of worship is deferring to the medium density redevelopment trend.

This time, in West Footscray, a former Uniting Church on the corner of Ormond and Glamis roads will be pulled down and replaced with 12 double-storey townhouses, in a development called Trugo.

Two bedroom townhouses start from $499,000. Prices rise for three bedroom units, available from $570,000, and the biggest four bedroom homes, which start at $670,000.

JG King Projects is redeveloping the church. Building manager Ryan L’Huillier says Trugo will set a new benchmark for townhouse living in Melbourne’s west.

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Top End Market May be Deflating Faster Than First Thought

MELBOURNE’s top-end may be deflating faster than some agents would have you believe.

In St Kilda West, a historic waterfront four-level mansion with six bedrooms on Beaconsfield Parade has just been discounted to $4.95 million after failing to sell last June for $7 million.

Around the corner in tree-lined Mary Street, Channel Nine managing director Jeff Browne is asking $3.975 million for his outgoing terrace after it failed to sell at auction in February, with price expectations of up to $4.4 million.

At another Mary Street, in Hawthorn, a modern family home was discounted this week to $4.65 million after being advertised for most of the year at $4.95 million.

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One in Seven Dwellings Within City of Yarra Now Public Housing

FOURTEEN per cent, or one in seven dwellings within the City of Yarra council zone is now allocated as public housing.

According to council, there are 5039 public homes out of 35,960 dwellings within the council area – which encapsulates inner-city suburbs of Abbotsford, Carlton North, Collingwood and Clifton Hill.

This compares to mid-2006, when 4923 dwellings (or 13 per cent of homes) were allocated as public housing.

The number of social dwellings is set to surge within the council area – and throughout metropolitan Melbourne and Victoria – according to agents, architects, builders and planners who agree a commission flat building-boom is starting.

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Isaac Brott Sells Stawell Chambers For About $4 Million

STAWELL Chambers, the free-standing, historic office that was for years occupied by solicitor Isaac Brott, has sold.

The building at 493 – 495 Little Bourke Street, opposite the southern boundary of the Supreme Court in Melbourne’s legal precinct is speculated to have traded for about $4 million.

Days after an auction last Friday, a “sold” sticker appeared on a board outside the 121-year old, four-level 650 square metre office (pictured, right). But Savills directors Nick Peden and Clinton Baxter declined to comment on any part of a deal when contacted by The Age.

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Macquarie DDR Operational Update

Macquarie DDR Trust (ASX:MDT) today announced the leased rate across its portfolio at 30 September 2008 was 96.2% and 48 leases were signed across 376,142 sqft during the three months to September 2008. The Trust’s continued focus on tenant attraction and retention has delivered an average rental increase of 23.2% [1] on 15 new leases and 7.1% on 33 renewals despite continued uncertainty in the US retail environment.

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