Canada Now Largest Private Owner of Forestry Land in Australia

THE largest private owner of forestry land in Australia is now a Canadian pension fund.

Alberta Investment Management Corp (AIMCo) has paid $415 million for 252,000 hectares of timber land. The land was offloaded by collapsed managed investment scheme operator, Great Southern.

The price paid is 60 per cent of the land’s value three years ago, and before legislative changes triggered the collapse of two large industry players, including Timbercorp as well as Great Southern.

AIMCo chief executive Leo de Bever told the AFR the group had been working to buy the site for more than a year.

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Offshore Investor Pays $80 Million For Surfers Paradise Supersite

AN undisclosed overseas investor is understood to have outbid several local players, to buy a 1.13 hectare block of land in Old Burleigh Road, Surfers Paradise, for about $80 million.

The disposal is the first since Balmain Trilogy took control of the $630 million First mortgage Fund from the beleagured City Pacific in July. The property, spread over 94 titles, was sold with two first mortgages and caveats, for debts which are expected to be paid off. The property was put to the market in May by mortgagee Fortress Credit.

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Translator Service For Online Property Listings Could be Australian First

BURGEONING demand from overseas investors, has resulted in developer and agency TS2 creating a translation service for its online property listings.
 
In what director Richard Luff believes is a first of its kind in the country, users select one of ten flags to translate the website into different languages, including Arabic, Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese and Korean.
 
Mr Luff said overseas investors are learning our markets beyond the traditional blue ribbon heartland of Toorak, and there is clear evidence of demand for new and old homes in suburbs including Balwyn, Brighton, Canterbury, Kew, South Yarra and Templestowe.

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St Kilda’s Former Post Office Sells For $4.75 Million to Asian Apartment Developer

St Kilda Post OfficeST Kilda’s historic Post Office building, at the corner of St Kilda Road and Inkerman Street, has sold to an Asian developer for $4.75 million.

The 1,236 square metre site at 306 – 310 St Kilda Road, sold with a permit for a five-level, 40-unit serviced apartment building, with a ground floor restaurant to be built into the existing Post Office building.

The sale reflects a price of about $3,843 per square metre of land.

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