Retail sale, 398 Johnston Street, Abbotsford
The property sold under the hammer for $3.115 million, $700,000 above the reserve and at a record land rate for the area for Commercial 2 Zoned land of $7,710/sqm. More than 120 enquiries were received and eight bidders competed at the auction for the dual-fronted 404sqm site with a building area of 320sqm. Leased to office tenant Uptick, the price reflected a sharp yield of 3.17%.
Retail lease, Shop 1B, 138 Rathdowne Street, Carlton
A juice bar signed a five-year deal with a five-year option over the 114sqm space in the popular Carlton precinct, at $48,000pa.
Retail sale, 129 Main Street, Greensborough
The strata space, a 118sqm corner shop, sold in an off-market deal for $850,000 at a 4.6% yield.
Specialised asset sale, 3 Nexus Street, Ravenhall
The 1,032sqm childcare facility on a 3,044 corner site was traded between private investors for $3.8 million. It sold at a 5.9% passing yield with a 15-year lease with options to Kool Kidz and licence for 130 places.
Industrial sale, 55 Keys Road, Moorabbin
A local investor acquired the car repair yard for $2.2 million at a 4.1% yield. It has a 1,450sqm building on a 1,947sqm site and sold with a three-year lease bringing $90,000pa.
Industrial sale, Hilton Street, Clifton Hill
The state government has sold off another two sites that it had compulsorily acquired for the East West Link Tunnel project. Both sites cover 229sqm and sold with vacant possession. They included 2 Hilton Street for $1.74 million, which has a two-level 306sqm office and showroom building, and 4-6 Hilton Street for $1.2 million, with a single-level warehouse of 181sqm.
Industrial lease, 122-124 Melrose Drive, Tullamarine
Point of sale device manufacturer Verifone leased the 4,635sqm facility, which includes 1,825sqm of office space, at $360,000pa.
Office sale, 155 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda
An owner occupier purchased the three office suites of a combined 116sqm within the Waldorf building for $775,000.
Office lease, Ground Floor, 297 Napier Street, Fitzroy
Internationally-acclaimed immersive media firm Phoria has leased a 330sqm ground floor Fitzroy space in the landmark former Salvation Army Hall building. It will pay $53,000pa outgoings and GST over the three years.
Office lease, Level 4, 124 Exhibition Street, Melbourne
Where2Travel is moving to the 213sqm space on a three-year deal at a starting rent of $75,500pa gross plus GST.
Talking Points
Smaller CBD buildings continue to change hands: The three-storey Victorian building home to iconic Greek eatery International Cakes, at 185-187 Lonsdale Street in the CBD, has sold for $10.15 million.
A Chinese-based investor acquired the 1891 building of 550sqm, on a 188sqm site on the corner of Waratah Place, at a 3.94% yield. The refurbished upper floors are tenanted by new nightclub Storyville.
The transaction comes shortly after another three-storey building, at 185-187 Bourke Street, was sold off by two private Sydney investors for $9.8 million in an off-market deal.
AMP Capital calls in new tenants as Telstra departs: Long-term tenant Telstra is set to exit the 32-level Collins Place tower in the CBD, where it has signage rights, once its lease expires in June.
According to The Age, building owners AMP Capital have been able to lease up to 32,000sqm of space to new tenants, as high levels demand in the and a lack of new supply sparks strong competition for space in the CBD office market.
Key deals include technology groups Salesforce and Dimension Data taking a respective 8,000sqm and 6,000sqm, and the Department of Education around 7,000sqm.
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.