Up Property secures two tenants at Moorabbin’s re-purposed Philip Morris plant
Dentist turned developer Adam Davidson’s Up Property has secured two more tenants to occupy part of the Philip Morris cigarette making plant in Moorabbin, which is being re-purposed.
In the latest deal, efm Logistics Services Group has rented 2850 square metres within a 5257 square metre renovated office at 1 Cochranes Road.
Efm will relocate from Mulgrave following the deal negotiated by Knight Frank’s James Treloar and Nick Sharkey.
It will be joined by Collingwood-based craft beer maker Stomping Ground, which is planning to build a beer hall, event space, garden and 12 hectolitre brewery within a warehouse on the 6.7 hectare site, which Up Property has branded Morris Moor.
Morris Moor leasing agents have been promoting Stomping Ground’s presence since mid-May but the brewer only confirmed the news this week.
Other previously reported tenancies include:
- Clik Collective – a co-warehousing business which has signed up for 6000 sqm;
- Kids Club, which will open a 140-place childcare centre within a building fronting Chesterville Road; and
- Schotts Home Emporium, which will occupy a 4140 sqm space at the eastern edge of the site.
Philip Morris listed the Moorabbin site in 2015 after 60 years of ownership – relocating its local offices to 8000 sqm at South Wharf Tower in Docklands, and production facilities to South Korea.
Marketed at the time as 254-258 Chesterville Road, it sold to Up Property for $23.7 million.
Last May, Up Property unveiled plans to refurbish 50,384 sqm of offices and factories on the site into a $100 million employment precinct and hospitality zone with restaurants, cafes and a wine bar.
Upon completion, it is expected Morris Moor will be a workplace for over 1600 people – twice the number Philip Morris employed there.
Elsewhere in Victoria, Up Property controls high-profile Geelong sites including a former CSIRO facility in Belmont which it acquired for a price reported to be as high as $10 million in 2015 and is now being replaced with a residential estate, Lume.
Last November, we reported Up Property paid more than $7 million for another Belmont site at 107-123 High Street.
Up Property also holds a low-rise office at 126 Little Malop Street (pictured, above), part-leased to Barwon Health and News Corp Australia’s Geelong Advertiser.
Last month, News Corp Australia sold the 60-year old former Geelong Advertiser office at 191-195 Ryrie Street, Geelong, to a Melbourne-based student accommodation provider, banking $5 million.
