193-195 Glenferrie Road & 86-92 Union Street, Malvern
A local buyer paid $7.15 million for the fully-leased multi-tenanted property, at a 4.1% blended yield. It comprises a 2-storey 460sqm building with 5 ground floor retail tenancies and a 1st floor whole-level office, returning $310,000pa plus outgoings and GST, and is on a 336sqm site corner site zoned Commercial 1 with 55m of frontage.
812-816 Glenferrie Road & 1 Measham Place, Hawthorn
The 809sqm site with 2 shops and 4 office suites sold for $5.75 million at a 2.2% yield. Zoned Commercial 1, it has on-site parking for 14 cars and returns $172,836pa from 6 tenants.
101 Northern Highway, Echuca
The 10,087sqm Toyota dealership site sold for $6.1 million, on a 4.55% yield. It is leased to Toyota dealer Servco on a 5-year lease until December 2024 plus options to 2034, returning $277,557pa plus GST.
74 Northern Highway, Echuca
The neighbouring 3,188sqm Subaru dealership site, also leased to Servco until 2024 with options, sold for $2.8 million and on a 5.84% yield. It returns $167,123pa plus GST.
189 Bank Street, South Melbourne
An owner-occupier bought the double-storey, 151sqm Victorian-era building on the corner of Emerald Hill Place for $1.92 million. It has a short-term lease to the Emerald Hill Café.
5 Commercial Road, South Yarra
The 133sqm space plus 195sqm alfresco dining area at the base of the “Blocktagon” tower sold for $1.11 million at a 4.64% yield. Japanese fusion café Kai Dining has a 4 4-year lease to 2028 that returns $51,490 net plus GST. The 8-level tower was formerly the Hotel Saville before being renovated as part of TV series The Block.
239 Raymond Street, Sale
The 324sqm building on a 624sqm site sold for $990,000 on a 5.4% yield. It has a 5 5-year lease to real estate agency Graham Chalmer that brings $53,465pa net plus GST.
Levels 2 & 3, 2-4 Pacific Promenade, Pakenham
The 348sqm office property sold for $1.34 million on a 6.49% yield. Barrason’s Engineers has a brand-new 6-year lease returning $87,000pa plus GST.
9 Station Street, Mitcham
A financial services firm signed a 3-year lease over the 156sqm partitioned and self-contained level 1 office at $230/sqm plus car parking.
210 Main Street, Bacchus Marsh
An investor bought the showroom and warehouse property for $6 million on a 3.89% yield. Super Cheap Auto has 6 years remaining on its current lease over the showroom with 6 6-year options, and The Bacch Shed Self Storage has 4 years remaining on its lease over the rear warehouse with 5-year options. The buildings are on a 2,874sqm site.
8 Clare Street, Bayswater
An investor paid $2.375 million for the 1,198sqm office and warehouse property, comprising 2 units over 1 title, on a 2,041sqm site. It was offered with holding income until November 2022.
Unit 10, 56 Norcal Road, Nunawading
A local business owner bought the 375sqm office, showroom and warehouse unit for $1.275 million. It includes 5 on-site parking spaces.
50/237 Mansfield Street, Thornbury
An owner-occupier bought the 170sqm building with 3 parking spaces for $780,000, and will use the property for additional storage purposes.
Unit 1/8 Beach Avenue, Mordialloc
Melbourne Window Services agreed to a 3 2-year lease over the 215sqm warehouse at $77/sqm.
35-47 Paul Joseph Way, Truganina
A development syndicate has leased out 3 adjoining office and warehouses before completion. Rothfield Printing, Veneziano Coffee and FST Express leased a combined 12,519 sqm at $90 to $95/sqm net.
476-478 High Street, Prahran
An investor bought the 1,200sqm triple-fronted site on the corner of Pakington Street for more than $10 million. It has a 1,100sqm warehouse occupied by PETstock and Bed Depot on leases ending in August paying $173/sqm, with a new tenant set to move into the property. It had been offered with a permit for an apartment development.
Woolworths Eltham Sells for $35m, on 3.3% Yield
Woolworths Eltham has become the first freestanding supermarket property to sell in the COVID-normal environment, bought by a Melbourne-based private investor for $35 million and on a sharp 3.3% yield.
FitzroysDavid Bourke, Chris James and Shawn Luo, in conjunction with Stonebridge Property Group, negotiated the sale.
Leased to blue-chip tenant Woolworths on a brand-new 5-year lease plus options through to 2050, the 4,249sqm modern, full-line supermarket at 7 Arthur Street returns $1,166,000pa with full recoveries of outgoings including state land tax.
“Eltham Woolworths was a high-performing supermarket and it was proven that supermarket investments, especially those which trade above their percentage rent threshold, are one of the best investment products to provide a hedge against inflation,” Bourke said.
“The huge enquiry and 15 offers made shows the high regard held for freestanding supermarkets in established metropolitan locations in the current climate.
“Defensive and daily needs-oriented retail assets with blue-chip tenancy covenants remain at the top investors’ shopping lists, and there is a huge amount of pent-up capital waiting to be deployed after low levels of quality stock came to the market over the past two years.”
Built 20 years ago, it has a large 282 car parks over 2 levels and is on a substantial Commercial 1-zoned site of 9,044sqm in a high-profile location between Coles, Aldi and Dan Murphy’s in the centre of Eltham, and moments from Eltham train station and multiple bus routes.
“In the current environment freestanding supermarkets are seen as one of the most secure opportunities, especially those with underlying landholdings,” Luo said.
Several supermarket assets have traded on sharp yields in recent months. A Woolworths in North Balwyn sold for $45.7 million on a 2.99 % yield, a Coles Local on Glenferrie Road in Hawthorn sold for $24.5 million at 1.9%, and a Woolworths in Blackburn South sold for $29.3 million at 2.46%.
A Piece of Punt Road History Hits the Market
A piece of Punt Road history is expected to attract investors, owner-occupiers and developers, with the Domain Hill site home to the Glenhope mansion hitting the market.
Fitzroys’ David Bourke and Chris James are marketing 466 Punt Road, South Yarra via Expressions of Interest closing Tuesday, 5 May at 3pm.
Expectations are of circa $5.5 million.
Currently, the substantial 1880s grand Victorian building is home to Millswyn Clinic and is used for medical and consulting rooms. It is on a 1,777sqm site zoned Residential Growth and is being offered with a short-term lease expiring December 2022.
“There’s so much potential for this site,” Bourke said.
“There’s enormous scope to repurpose the property for a range of uses, including for medical or childcare, boutique residential accommodation or for redevelopment,” Bourke said.
“The nearby Forest Hill precinct of South Yarra is undergoing a transformative period that is bringing new residential, retail, office and hospitality offerings, and there’s a fast-growing demand from young families moving to the area for education, medical and childcare services.
“Character buildings provide a point of difference for businesses, and we’re expecting interest from owner-occupiers looking to acquire their own character premises on the Melbourne CBD fringe. Historic inner-Melbourne buildings such as this are very tightly held.
“Developers will note that inner suburban locations with high-quality hospitality and lifestyle amenity are hugely popular now, particularly at a time of flexible working arrangements. It’s incredibly rare for a South Yarra site of this size and potential to come to the market.”
James said South Yarra is being regenerated as a commercial and lifestyle destination in its own right.
“The property is close to all of South Yarra’s fantastic amenities, including the Royal Botanic Gardens, Fawkner Park, the Toorak Road restaurant and lifestyle precinct and Forrest Hill,” he said.
“The prestigious Domain Hill precinct is also within walking distance to the Yarra River, Melbourne Cricket Ground and Yarra Park, and is moments from the Melbourne CBD and St Kilda Road office precinct.”
He said Domain Hill is occupied by many of Melbourne’s most exclusive residences, together with leading private schools Melbourne Grammar and Melbourne Girls Grammar.
Glenhope was built in 1887 by Robert Paxton, and held within the Paxton family until it was bought by the Warsaw Jewish Committee in 1951 for £17,200, and housed Polish refugees arriving from Europe. A financial sharing and occupancy agreement was made with the Australian Jewish Welfare and Relief Society (AJWRS) and ownership and occupancy was transferred to the AJWRS in 1958. The building served the society as its headquarters until 1992.
Heritage-Listed Leonard Joel Auction House Sells
Also in South Yarra, the heritage-listed premises currently home to auction house Leonard Joel has sold to an owner-occupier for $17.05 million.
The gothic 1,443 sqm double-storey building at 333 Malvern Road was constructed in 1874 as Primary School No. 1467, later Hawksburn Primary School, and is on a 3,105 sqm site.
Leonard Joel’s lease expires in the middle of next year. The family company sold the property in $8 million in 2015 to a syndicate led by Michael Argyrou, founder of Hickory Group.
The school closed in the mid-1990s and much of the playground land is now used for housing.
Disclosure: The weekly Fitzroys Property Wrap is for information only on transactions in the Melbourne property market. Fitzroys provides this information as a public service. We are not purporting that all sales and leases within this report were transacted by Fitzroys. Terms/Privacy © Copyright 2021 Fitzroys.