Community Housing Leases 1000 Sq M Box Hill Office

INTERNATIONAL service provider Community Housing Limited – a specialist in securing local accommodation for residents living in overseas slums and other informal housing – has expanded into flash new Box Hill offices.

CHL has signed a major 1000 square metre lease at 26 – 28 Prospect Street (pictured, right), not far from another smaller building it occupied at 9-11 Prospect Street.

Both buildings are near the side-entrance of the Centro Box Hill shopping centre, which also includes a train station.

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$28 Billion Rudd Bank Rejected in Federal Parliament

Kevin RuddTHE AMBITIOUS $28 billion “Rudd Bank” – designed to protect the commercial property sector from the global financial crisis – was rejected in federal parliament this afternoon.

The Liberal party and the Greens voted down the fund, officially known as the Australian Business Investment Partnership, which was being lobbied by several property unions and bodies.

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Pratt Family Offload Prominent Hawthorn Development Site

THE Pratt family’s investment vehicle, Thorney Holdings, has decided against redeveloping Hawthorn’s derelict California Hotel.

Run for 20 years by the Alex Waislitz, the son-in-law of the late Richard Pratt (pictured, right), the intensely private company purchased the 7799 square metre site at 138 Barkers Road (pictured, far right) in 2007.

In 2009, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal approved a proposal which would see the 82-room hotel demolished and replaced with a $42 million 87-unit residential apartment complex rising five levels.

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Plans to Build Massive Glasshouse in NSW Stall

PLANS to develop Australia’s biggest environmentally friendly “glasshouse” near Nowra on the New South Wales south coast have stalled, because of the recent bleak economic environment.

The glasshouse was expected to be twice the size of the Geelong-based Costa Group’s tomato growing complex on the NSW Northern Tablelands.

It would use excess carbon dioxide and waste water from a Manildra Group-owned ethanol plant nearby, to enhance growth of its products.

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GPT Completes Entitlement Offer

The GPT Group (“GPT”) is pleased to confirm the allotment of 718,294,466 stapled securities under the Retail Entitlement Offer today.

The Retail Entitlement Offer Shortfall was approximately 210 million stapled securities (or approximately $73 million), comprising 4.7% of the offer as a whole. All Retail Securityholders who applied for Additional New Securities, up to a cap of 25% of their entitlement, received the Additional New Securities they applied for, raising a total of approximately $27 million. Trading of these new securities will commence on 17 June 2009. The Retail Entitlement Offer which comprises both the New Securities allotted today and those allotted on 27 May 2009 raised approximately $300 million. The total number of stapled securities on offer following completion of the equity raising will be 9,277,584,743.

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Melbourne Planning Landscape Changed Forever Because of Melbourne 2030 Policy

TWO disused bowling alleys, north and south of the Yarra River, give an indication of how fast planning attitudes have reformed, as architects, developers and planners maximised the former government’s redundant Melbourne @ 5 Million planning strategy.

In Mentone, some 21 kilometres south of the CBD, council has just rejected plans to replace the Mentone Bowl site with a 170-unit residential village topped by two towers of eight and 12 levels.

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Westpac, NAB Follow CBA and Lift Interest Rates

National Australia BankTHREE DAYS after banking giant Commonwealth Bank announced a surprise increase of its fixed interest rate, rival banks Westpac and National Australia Bank have followed suit.

Westpac yesterday informed its mortgage holders of interest rate increases of between 0.1 per cent and 0.5 per cent, for most of its loans. The bank’s four and five year loan rates have ballooned from 6.69 per cent to 7.19 per cent.

Westpac was followed by the National Australia Bank, which also lifted rates on its four and five year loans, by between 0.15 and 0.4 per cent.

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Wesfarmers To Unveil New Concept Store, Urban at Target, in Melbourne

WESFARMERS owned Target will open the first of its “small format store” in Melbourne, in September.

The new store, Urban by Target, will occupy 1000 square metres of space once occupied by Virgin Megastore at the prominent Jam Factory in South Yarra, owned by Challenger.

Wesfarmers, which also owns supermarket giant Coles, is looking to expand both its Urban by Target and Target Country divisions. It’s also planning more large-format Target stores.

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Starwood to Sell Sydney’s Sheraton on the Park Hotel

STARWOOD Hotels & Resorts is continuing to offload its major assets, this time putting Sydney’s five-star Sheraton on the Park hotel on the market.

Starwood will sell the asset a long-term management agreement for the 557-room Elizabeth Street hotel, which overlooks Hyde Park.

The group has put a number of its hotel investments globally on the market, but Starwood says it is not compelled to sell if pricing and other requirements are not met.

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Worst May Be Over For Australia’s Residential Real Estate Markets

AUSTRALIA’s residential real estate markets are heading into a sustained recovery period, with average values expected to rise between 11 and 19 per cent in all major capitals, according to a new research report.

Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide will lead the property price rise charge, according to the report, with values expected to increase 19 per cent between 2009 and 2012.

Darwin – currently Australia’s second most expensive capital city with a median house price of $470,000, is expected to record the slowest growth, rising just 11 per cent over the same period.

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Development Site Opposite South Melbourne Market Expected to Fetch About $20 Million

AN OWNER-occupier that controls a massive 4287 square metre property opposite the South Melbourne Market has publicly listed it for sale.

The Novak Prestige Motor Works site at the north-west corner of York and Cecil streets, in South Melbourne (aerial, right), is an amalgamation of several adjoining properties. Panel beater and painter Novak purchased the first site in 1965, acquiring another seven over a 45-year period.

Effectively a development site, and being offered with an extended settlement, the property is expected to arouse interest from builders, or land bankers which may onsell all or part of it at a more buoyant time of the market, possibly with permits.

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$100 Million Darlinghurst Cancer Centre Objected by Lord Mayor

Delta Goodrem
PLANS to build a $100 million cancer centre in Sydney’s ritzy inner-eastern suburb of Darlinghust are in jeopardy, after a group of local residents and Lord Mayor Clover Moore, said the development would “cannibalise” their suburb.

Mr Moore said the proposed 11-storey building – which was launched by singer Delta Goodrem last October – risks blocking sunlight to nearby homes, and will also cause traffic chaos.

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Federal Government’s Beleagured NRAS Suffers Another Setback

THE federal government’s ailing National Rental Affordability Scheme has suffered a convenient setback.

The $623 million initiative – introduced by Kevin Rudd in 2008, and then part-cut by Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan in recent budgets – has lost another private sector backer which was to have provided 255 affordable housing units in Coburg.

Developer Hamton, with joint venture partner Macquarie Real Estate Investment Equity Fund, has quietly rescheduled the start date of its contentious Coburg High School redevelopment – Circa (artist impression, above).

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Take Photos of Your Property Pre-Road Construction, Rozelle Residents Warned

BUILDING inspection giant Archicentre has warned residents in Sydney’s inner-west to take digital photos of their properties, ahead of major new roadworks nearby, which threaten to damage of their properties.

“At the very least all home owners should be taking a digital photographic record of their homes and its condition inside and out with a date stamp on the shots to record the conditions of their home for any legal disputes in the future,” Archicentre state manager Angus Kell told the Daily Telegraph.

He added if this was not possible, residents should commission reports on their homes detailing any damage caused.

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New Expo Technique Used to Market Commercial Property

A NEAR new government-leased office building in central Bendigo and a shopping centre in West Geelong are amongst the assets for sale at a commercial property “expo”, underway at Southbank’s Langham Hotel.
 
The sale technique, which co-ordinator Knight Frank says is the first of its scale in Australia, exhibits about 150 properties – mostly shops, offices, factories and development sites worth less than $10 million.

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Nathan Tinkler’s Buildev Invests in Sleepy Wonthaggi, Victoria

MILLIONS of interstate mining dollars will be invested in sleepy South Gippsland.

Sydney-based developer Buildev – of which NSW based mining magnate Nathan Tinkler (pictured, right) is a key shareholder – has signed an agreement to acquire part of the Wonthaggi Golf Club, on South Dudley Road and a stretch of Bass Highway known as McKenzie Street, north of the Wonthaggi township.

Buidev plans to build medium density housing, tourist accommodation and a retirement village on a 15 hectare slice of the course. The affected land is along the perimeter of the site between what is currently the 14th and 18th holes.

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$69 Million Upgrade For NSW Supreme Court Building

Premier Nathan Rees today announced that $69 million will be spent upgrading NSW Supreme Court building in Queens Square, creating 350 jobs over four years.

Mr Rees said the upgrade of the Law Courts Building would preserve the Supreme Court’s status as the preferred forum for commercial litigation in Australia.

“This is an important project, which will not only bring business to NSW, but will provide 350 jobs, both on and off-site, as construction work takes place,” Mr Rees said.

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Interest Rates Rise For First Time Since Last July: CBA Statement

The Commonwealth Bank today announced that although its standard variable home loan interest rate will increase by 0.10 per cent per annum, its rate is still the lowest of the major banks.

Ross McEwan, Group Executive Retail Banking Services said, “This is a decision the Bank has made reluctantly.  During most of the past 18 months, Commonwealth Bank customers have had the benefit of the lowest standard variable home loan rate on offer from the major banks.  However, given our increasing funding costs, it has become necessary to make this increase.”

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Crown International Pays Becton $15 Million For Parramatta Development Site

CROWN International has paid Becton about $A15 million for a major development site in the Sydney transit city of Parramatta.

The 45 Macquarie Street development site includes two heritage buildings which will be retained, and an approval for a 40,000 square metre commercial building. However Crown said its purchase is subject to approval of a revised application, that would also include residential and retail space.

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Number of First Home Buyers Dip, as Lenders Want to See Savings

Mortgage Choice, Australia’s largest independently owned mortgage broker, is not surprised by the April 2009 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) housing finance figures, which show a decrease in the number of first homebuyers at the same time as activity from investors and owner occupiers increased.
 
However, the value of new housing loans across all categories – first homebuyers, owner occupiers and investors-fixed loans – all rose significantly. In fact, first homebuyers as a total of the value of commitments hit a record 28%, from 27.3% in March 2009.

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17-Level Apartment Tower Mooted Near Collingwood’s Victoria Park Stadium

SOON, Melbourne’s eyesore commission flat towers might not be the tallest buildings within their suburbs.

Far from being daunted by new planning minister Matthew Guy shredding of the Brumby government’s problematic Melbourne 2030 planning policy (which he argued in Opposition treated metropolitan Melbourne like one giant development zone), residential developers are still proposing big, bold buildings. This is despite Melbourne planning being a relative state of limbo until a new planning strategy is formulated.

This time, in Magpie land and near the Victoria Park stadium (pictured) and train station, a proposal has been lodged to build a 204-unit residential village with ground floor shops and a 17-level tower.

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Federal Government Shelves $8000 Solar Roof Panel Rebate Early

Peter GarrettTHE FEDERAL Government has abruptly ended its $8000 rebate for roof-top panels, three weeks before the scheme was to expire.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett said the government has already spent $700 million on the initiative, more than four times the $150 million it indended when it announced the scheme as part of the governemnt’s $58 billion second stimulus package earlier this year.

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Orchard Puts 233 Castlereagh Street on the Market

MONTHS after listing its 350 Collins Street office for sale in Melbourne, Orchard Funds Management has put a Sydney CBD building on the market, in a deal which could be worth $130 million.

Orchard is selling its 31-level 233 Castlereagh Street building in Sydney, three years after buying it for $120 million with joint venture partners Leighton Properties and Lend Lease Real Estate. The office building is now 95 per cent occupied, returning about $9 million per annum. This compares to 40 per cent when the consortium bought the building in 2006.

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Grocon to Develop Two CBD Offices in Castlereagh St Sydney and Collins Street Melbourne

171 Collins Street
MELBOURNE builder Grocon is expected to unveil itself as the owner of two prominent city development sites, one in Melbourne and one in Sydney.

Grocon is expected to confirm it will pay between $35 million and $40 million for the former “shop of shops” experiment at 171 Collins Street, in the Melbourne CBD. That site is earmarked for a controversial 17-level, $260 million office building which needed to be approved by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal last year.

VCAT’s approval ended a long-serving Melbourne CBD planning arrangement, whereby buildings around the Swanston Street core would be height restricted.

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Sunland Unveils New Project, Eton, in Melbourne’s Bundoora

IT’S incredible to think Bundoora’s University Hill project, which upon completion will have an end value of more than $1 billion, is being developed on 104-hectares of largely disused farmland local developer MAB Corporation bought from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2004 for just $21 million.

Measured by end value, the project, 20 kilometres north of CBD and on land which also once accommodated the Janefield Special School, is one of Victoria’s biggest urban renewals. In seven years, land around the picturesque Plenty Gorge has slowly been replaced with shopping centres, offices, aged care facilities and housing estates.

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More Than 78,000 Australians Take Up First Home Owners Boost

Tanya PlibersekNew figures show that the Rudd Government’s Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan is continuing to support jobs in the housing sector with more than 78,000 Australians taking up the First Home Owners Boost by the end of April.

April saw the highest take-up so far of the First Home Owners Boost – 18,736.

ABS Building Approvals figures out today show the seasonally adjusted total dwelling units approved rose by 5.1 per cent in April to a level of 11,402. This is the third consecutive monthly rise.

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Aerial Penthouse, Camberwell, Expected to Fetch About $4 Million

Queensland born and now Sydney-based developer FKP has listed for sale the one and only penthouse within its contentious Aerial project, at the Camberwell Junction, in East Hawthorn (pictured, right).

The 388 square metre unit is at the top floor of Aerial’s west tower and includes four bedrooms, four car spaces and a 128 square metre balcony. It also has floor-to-ceiling windows offering uninterrupted city skyline views.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal approved Aerial in early 2008, and then in 2009, allowed the developer to increase the number of units within the development by 40 per cent, to 144.

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Second Sydney Airport Mooted For Former Richmond RAAF Site

THE Federal Government has identified a former RAAF base as a possible site for a second Sydney airport.

Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said projected growth in traffic to 427,000 annual aircraft movements by 2029, makes the case for another Sydney airport one of “national interest”.

The state government is teaming with Mr Albanese, to conduct a joint study identifying possible airport sites. It’s believed the Bankstown Airport, which recently came onto the market for sale; and a site at Badgerys Creek, have been disqualified as possibilities.

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More Concerns About $30 Billion “Rudd Bank” bail-out

KEVIN RUDD’s controversial $30 billion “Rudd Bank” – formally known as the Australian Business Investment Partnership (ABIP) – has been questioned again, this time by a commercial agency-based research department.

ABIP – a joint venture between the major banks and the federal government which would finance the gap between what a developer is able to borrow for a new project, and the actual cost of the project – was first proposed earlier this year.

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Lifestyle Communities Buys High Street Hastings Site

LIFESTYLE Communities, the new name for the delisted company once known as Namberry Limited, has paid an as-yet-undisclosed sum for a six hectare development site in Hastings (pictured), in Melbourne’s outer south-east.

The High Street site will make way for a 150-unit retirement village that will be part of a high-end, master-planned senior’s community to be branded Lifestyle Hastings.

The acquisition comes less than a month after a $50 million capital raising by Lifestyle, which says it wants to develop a new affordable seniors village every twelve months.

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VCAT to Decide Fate of Dimmeys Richmond Store Soon

THE Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal needs more time to decide whether to allow the construction of a 10-level apartment tower atop Richmond’s iconic Dimmeys shopping centre.

After meeting this month VCAT is scheduling another date to debate the 82-unit proposal, which is slightly lower density than a Heritage Victoria endorsed 11-level proposal – rejected by the City of Yarra council in February.

Both HV and council voiced concerns about a previous proposal lodged in early-2010 which would have seen the south-west corner of the 140 – 160 Swan Street site replaced with two apartment towers, the tallest rising 11 levels.

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Dexus Close to Selling 343 George Street

343 George Street SydneyDEXUS Property Group is believed to have found a buyer for its 343 George Street office building, in the Sydney CBD.

A private investor is understood to be in exclusive due diligence to buy the heritage listed 11-storey building for more than $50 million. The negotiation may explain why a public campaign to sell the ASX building at 20 Bridge Street, has been delayed two weeks. That building was expected to sell for about $170 million.

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Bayside City Council to Sell Two More New Brighton Bathing Boxes

BAYSIDE City council can expect to reap more than $400,000 from selling leasing rights to two new bathing boxes it has constructed at Brighton’s Dendy Beach.

It was almost two years ago the council decided to build six new bathing boxes on the prominent stretch of sand, in a move expected would generate about $1 million in extra income.

The first bathing box developed on the beach in more than a century sold for $215,000 last December, suggesting the council can expect around $1.3 million from the endeavour.

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Giant Football Academy Still on Track For Former Liverpool Golf Course

PLANS to develop a giant football academy on a former golf course, in the south-western Sydney suburb of Liverpool are still on track, despite banks putting the property on the market for $6 million as a mortgagee in possession.

Property developer Eddie Parilio said he expects to pay out money owed on the property, before the end of the property’s marketed tender. A repayment would give him back clear possession of the property, and allow him to proceed with redevelopment plans.

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Peter Maddison Designed Townhouse Hits Market in South Yarra

A TOWNHOUSE created by Peter Maddison – architect and host of Lifestyle Channel’s Grand Designs Australia – has hit the market in South Yarra.

The three-level duplex in Davis Avenue includes an opulent lounge room with a prominent fireplace that has appeared in numerous design magazines and publications over the years, including Domain.

A study is accessed from this lounge room, which is on the entrance level with a casual living and meals area. At the lowest level, is an underground car park for three cars, while three bedrooms are on the top level.

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Frasers Property Gets Moving to Redevelop Sydney’s Former CUB Site

SINGAPORE-based developer Frasers Property is preparing to redevelop Foster’s former Sydney CUB Brewery into a $500 million mixed use project.

The new proposal will include two office towers, two apartment buildings and will be flanked by ground floor retail. Frasers has appointed an architect to design the proposal, and has started lodging applications with the NSW Department of Planning.

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Lend Lease to Defer Asset Sales

As previously advised Lend Lease Corporation (“Lend Lease”) is not a forced seller of assets and has no intention of selling assets at sub optimal values. Given current market conditions Lend Lease does not believe it is appropriate to sell certain assets, including some equity investments in Public to Private Partnership projects in the UK this financial year. Revised guidance after the removal of these items and other adjustments for the year ending 30 June 2009 is Net Operating Profit after Tax of circa A$300 million.

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Plans Lodged to Subdivide Historic Phillip Island Homestead

ANOTHER establishment family is lobbying to slice and dice their substantial holiday home retreat.

This time, on Phillip Island, the Grollo family have submitted plans to subdivide the historic eight hectare estate, Woolamai House (pictured, right), which was built in 1876 for wealthy hotelier and horse trainer John Cleeland and is one of Victoria’s oldest coastal homesteads.

Woolamai House includes an Italianite Gothic mansion and gardens with heritage plantings abutting the Cape Woolamai foreshore, all of which are included on the Victorian Heritage Register.

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Spottiswoode Hotel Sells For $2.335 Million

A YEAR after its owner made headlines warning he could not pay a new $30,000 annual licence fee imposed by the former Brumby Government – the popular watering hole known by locals as “The Spotty” has sold and will be replaced with a high-end restaurant.

Until recently the 1888 Spottiswoode Hotel at 62 Hudsons Road, on the north-east corner of Hall Street, in Spotswood, traded four days a week.

Because of a 14-minute cabaret strip show, however, the ALP government in 2009 deemed the hotel a high risk club and increased its annual licence from $3500.

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Watpac Awarded Cochlear HQ Project Development at Sydney’s Macquarie University

Cochlear Headquarters Macquarie University Sydney
ASX-listed construction and property group Watpac Limited (ASX:WTP) has been awarded the contract to construct the new Global Headquarters building for Australian hearing implant specialist Cochlear.

The $80 million Global Headquarters and manufacturing facility will be based in the emerging Hearing Precinct of Sydney’s Macquarie University.

The project involves the construction of a six-storey building with a nett lettable area of approximately 24,000m2, in close collaboration with Cochlear to meet their unique requirements.

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Australian Education Union Spends $16 Million on Neighbouring Abbotsford Office

THE Victorian Branch of the Australian Education Union, presided by Mary Bluett, may need to rely on fee revenue from government educators to pay off a spectacularly located office building it has purchased on the banks of the Yarra River in Abbotsford – next door to its current HQ.

The AEU’s off-market acquisition comes three years after the Association of Independent Schools of Victoria paid about $6 million for a massive art-deco office complex in Rosslyn Street, West Melbourne, and some two years since the National Union of Workers paid almost $7 million for a Bourke Street, Docklands head office.

The AEU is headquartered at a large building at 112 Trenerry Crescent, and rents out surplus office space. That building could be extended, and the site has redevelopment potential, sources say.

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Macquarie CountryWide Sells Assets in Australia and the USA

Macquarie CountryWide Trust (ASX:MCW) today announced it has signed unconditional contracts for two disposals in Australia totalling A$14.7 million. A further settlement has also occurred on the US portfolio sale to an affiliate of Inland Real Estate Acquisitions Inc (Inland), with the completion of the sale of eight assets for US$144.1 million (A$198.9 million), bringing the total value of this transaction to US$264.1 million (A$380.8 million).

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Apartment Skyscraper to Replace Low Rise Office at the Top of Melbourne CBD

THE new owners of a small office building at 315-321 La Trobe Street – near the popular Celtic Club at the top of town – have wasted no time seeking a redevelopment application.

The building was for 25 years the headquarters of law firm Tisher Liner & Co, which relocated to Queen Street after selling its La Trobe Street offices to the developers for a speculated $4 million last September.

Having lobbied immediately (and unsuccessfully) to build a 33-level tower on the small 300 square metre block, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has instead granted the new owners approval for a 22-level building rising 65 metres.

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Livinia Nixon Sells Historic Middle Park Home

WEATHERGIRL and television show co-host Livinia Nixon (pictured), with husband Alistair Jack, a builder, have offloaded their renovated Middle Park home.

The double storey, four-bedroom red brick home is understood to have sold for about $3.5 million, sources speculate, after passing in at auction earlier this month for $3.42 million.

Jack, and Nixon, who married in 2009 and welcomed new son Henry in January, are now reportedly looking for another “renovation rescue” project.

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Australand Secures Refinancing Approvals

Australand has secured approvals from three domestic banks for a total of $350 million which, subject to documentation and together with existing undrawn facilities, will provide the Group with sufficient capacity to repay the $563 million CMBS facility maturing on 25 June 2009. Existing undrawn facilities and cash at bank as at 31 March 2009 was in excess of $560 million. Commitments have also been secured to renew $100 million of the existing $150 million of unsecured facilities expiring in 2009.

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Melbourne School of Theology Pays $8 Million For Prominent Nutrimetics Office, Wantirna

EVEN non-believers visiting the new Bible College of Victoria headquarters in Wantirna, may find themselves praying Melbourne drivers don’t veer off the highway, and into the building.

The Melbourne School of Theology, which is the new name for the Bible College, has paid a speculated $8 million to owner-occupy the prominent 1.94 hectare suburban office which was for a long-time pink, and the headquarters of cosmetic company Nutrimetics, which was acquired by Tupperware in 2006, then relocated to Ferntree Gully.

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Ettamogah Entertainment to Sell Brighton Headquarters

THE developer that has kept Melbourne’s heritage enthusiasts on edge for a year has quietly listed its Brighton headquarters for sale.

Ettamogah Entertainment, which went into voluntary administration last November, is directed by Leigh O’Brien, whose development company, L&D O’Brien Holdings, paid $12 million in 2009 for the prominent 1 Bay Street Brighton mansion once owned by Olympian turned Gold Coast Mayor Ron Clarke.

L&D planned to replace the 1933 square metre site with a high-end apartment complex, after the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal approved the historic six-bedroom home on the site (pictured) be demolished.

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Top Ten Complaints of Apartment Living, New South Wales Office of Fair Trading Analysis

A bedroom-based trout farm, a horse kept in an apartment, and an owners’ corporation deadlocked over taking action against a nudist neighbour – these are just a few of the strangest complaints received by the Office of Fair Trading about strata living in NSW.

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Banks Not Passing Interest Rate Falls on, Because They Have Increased Market Dominance Recently

Federal Shadow Minister for Housing and Local Government, Scott Morrison, said today’s official housing finance figures for February show the banks have increased their market share of new housing loans to the highest level on record, creating a new low point for competition in our home mortgage market.

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Stockland Sells South Yarra Development Site at a Loss

SYDNEY-based developer Stockland has absorbed a huge financial loss, finally on-selling a prominent South Yarra development site it paid too much for in 2008.

Stockland has reaped $22.5 million for 2 – 4 Yarra Street site, which is set to make way for an approximate 30 level apartment tower with more than 350 flats.

During the economic downturn, Stockland paid local developer Michael Yates $26.25 million for the 2150 square metre site.

At the time of sale Stockland wanted to build about 250 flats on the site, but it successfully lobbied to increase that number to 353, before listing the asset for sale more than a year ago (image of Stockland’s proposed tower, right).

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Rosati’s Melbourne to be Redeveloped as 10-Level Tower

COMMONWEALTH Fund Management’s decision to preserve million dollar views (and rents) at its prized 101 Collins Street office building by imposing pre-set height limitations on a swag of neighbouring buildings it offered for sale nine years ago, appears to have paid off.

One of the buildings sold by the fund –the historic Rosati’s restaurant at 95 Flinders Lane – has quietly been approved a redevelopment within the maximum 40 metre height limit CFM had hoped.

The Melbourne City Council approved plans will result in the 1896 former warehouse being part-demolished and replaced with a lower level shopping centre, and a 10-level residential or hotel building.

Hotelier and restaurateurs the Zagame family paid Rosati restaurant owner Piero Gesualdi $9 million for the 817 square metre Flinders Lane property in early 2007.

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Actors Reg Gorman and Judith Roberts sell in St Kilda East

ACTORS Reg Gorman and Judith Roberts have sold their two-bedroom apartment in St Kilda East’s quaint Ardoch development for $740,000.

The renovated, ground-floor unit at 8 Ardoch Avenue is in one of Ardoch’s historic buildings, built in the 1920s. The oldest building in the unique estate dates to the 19th century, while newer buildings were developed on the site in the mid 1990s.

Ardoch centres around a grassy expanse, and its residents share a sauna, gymnasium and indoor pool. The property was once used as an orphanage, and a school.

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