Planning changes designed to prompt further transformation of inner-city hubs: The Victorian government is considering new town planning and zoning changes that would look to attract creative and tech companies and start-ups to suburbs such as Brunswick, South Melbourne and Collingwood, following the rapid evolution of Cremorne which has welcomed tenants such as Seek, MYOB, carsales.com and REA Group recently.
A new Commercial 3 zone is designed to “promote innovative and enterprising mixed use precincts that provide the fertile ground and business creation and experimentation”, according to the government, with the suburbs targeted because of their track record of repurposing old industrial and heritage buildings.
Another sub-$15 million CBD sale: Brookfield and ISPT paid $14.05 million to acquire the four-level 362 Little Collins Street building of 950sqm, which is on a 312sqm site adjacent to their $800 million joint venture office tower project at 405 Bourke Street, which will become NAB’s new headquarters.
The Little Collins Street building is fully leased, with tenants including Flight Centre in the ground floor retail space, and Brookfield Multiplex among those in the three office levels above. Total return is $396,000pa net.
Ringwood growth prospects attract long-term property plays: An 8,067sqm fully leased commercial site at 154-166 Maroondah Highway sold to a local family-owned investment company as a landbank for more than $11.1 million.
It has a building area of 5,021 sqm, and tenants include Beaumont Tiles, Carpet Court, Nutrition Warehouse, Mortgage Choice and Horseland, with a gross return of $747,619pa. Zoned Commercial 2, it encompasses a triangular site bordered by Maroondah Highway, Ringwood Lake and the train line near Ringwood station, and has been earmarked for rezoning and inclusion within an Activity Centre zone. The vendor was a family that had held the property since the 1930s.
Nearby, a private syndicate picked up a substantial Ringwood North corner site for $3 million as an investment and development play, also attracted to the growth of the eastern suburban corridor as Melburnians continue to embrace medium and high-density living.
The 1,423sqm site at 170-172 Warrandyte Road has a combined 76 metres of frontage to Warrandyte Road. Zoned Commercial 1, it currently comprises three retail shops leased to established tenants and a high profile corner retail space that was offered with vacant possession. Purchased at a passing yield of 2.5%, the new owners are looking to take advantage of the rental uplift by leasing up the vacant area, and developing in the future.
Major Dandenong office building changes hands: The Hellenic Club of Canberra has sold the Victorian government’s principal Metropolitan Multidisciplinary Centre for $17.3 million.
The three-level, 2,846sqm building at 1-9 Dandenong Street, on a 3,134sqm corner site fronting of Cheltenham Road, was completed in 2014 by developer Open Corporation Funds Management. The government has a 10-year lease until 2024 that returns $1,057,300pa net.
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.