Market Moves

MARKET MOVES

Content by: Marc Pallisco realestatesource.com.au

VICTORIA

Besgate sold two development sites it acquired in 2013, then obtained permits to redevelop, in the Melbourne CBD: 640 Bourke Street traded to Far East Consortium as an apartment play for $90 million – a rise on the $23.9 million Besgate paid, while 140-146 King Street is exchanging for about $29 million. The latter site, which cost Besgate $10 million, is being acquired by Harry Triguboff AO marking his first Melbourne investment after more than 50 years in the construction industry. It will make way for a Meriton Suites serviced accommodation complex.

In the suburbs, Dahua Group is paying $140 million for a 98.4 hectare site at 688 Aviation Road, Point Cook. Dahua paid $52 million for the neighbouring 96 hectare block at 640 Aviation Road in 2016.

Frasers Property Australia is outlaying about $80 million for a 41.3 hectare industrial development site in Dandenong South. The acquisition follows its $40 million acquisition of a 63.4 hectare block in the city’s Epping late last year – where it is also proposing an industrial park. CBD investments with long-term development potential also found buyers last month. Boston-based AEW Capital Management stumped up some $200 million for a 22-storey office on a corner site at 31 Queen Street. Swinburne University meanwhile is paying about $45 million for the historic seven-storey Invicta House at 226-232 Flinders Lane.

140-146 King Street

Image Credit: Victoria State Government

QUEENSLAND

Poly Australia is now a true eastern seaboard developer after paying $35.25 million for its first Queensland site - a 6.2 hectare residential building block on the corner of Lamington and Mordant streets, Ascot, near the Doomben Racecourse. The site is seven kilometres north-east of the Brisbane CBD. Poly Australia has been active in New South Wales and Victoria since 2015.

Some significant investment property deals were also sealed in the sunshine state last month.

In the Brisbane CBD, Perri Projects and AMB Capital Partners offloaded a 16-storey office at 179 North Quay for $52.6 million to an offshore party. A little closer to the City Botanic Gardens, ARA Asset Management paid Canada’s Quadra Pacific $96.5 million for a 15-level commercial building at 133 Mary Street.

Five kilometres west of the city, in St Lucia, the University of Queensland outlaid $19 million for a five-storey office until January occupied by Allianz Global Alliance. The college needs the additional space ahead of a refurbishment of its 114-hectare campus, nearby, which is expected to take about five years to complete.

179 North Quay Brisbane

Image Credit: JLL

NEW SOUTH WALES

Yuhu Group finally settled on the $380 million purchase of the Bakehouse Quarter site in North Strathfield. It bought the property from BlackWall in mid-2017 then exercised extension options to finalise the purchase - until last month. The six-hectare property, including office and retail investments built around the refurbished Arnott’s biscuits factory, has long-term potential to be replaced with a new township with an end value of about $1 billion.

Charter Hall Retail REIT paid $142 million for the Rockdale Plaza. The shopping centre investment includes 21,000 square metres of lettable area and 907 car parks.

In the east, philanthropist Tanya Nelson Carnegie sold the former Jackie’s Restaurant & Bar site, overlooking Bondi Beach, for almost $9.7 million. Now configured as two shops and three upstairs apartments, agents were quoting a guide price of $9.2 million for 132 Warners Avenue. It sold prior to auction.

Collette Dinnigan offloaded her former company’s headquarters in Surry Hills for $6 million. The fashion designer paid $1.23 million for the 22-24 Hutchinson Street warehouse in 1998.

Another high-profile vendor, movie director George Miller AO, also signed a property deal – selling the historic Metro theatre in Potts Point to ASX-listed Abacus Property Group for $19.8 million.

Meanwhile building manufacturing CSR Limited traded an Ingleburn factory leased to Veridian Glass to Fife Capital for $66.3 million. Coincidentally a Melbourne warehouse owner-occupied by Viridian Glass was listed for sale last month with a price guide of about $100 million.

In the state’s Central Coast, media industry businessman John Singleton spent close to $25 million for the Elanora Hotel, at 41 Victoria Street, East Gosford.

132 Warners Avenue, Bondi Beach.

Image Credit: realestate.com.au

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

A 200,000 hectare agricultural site in Western Australia’s wheatbelt region sold for a speculated price of between $60 million and $70 million. Known as the Baladjie aggregation, the deal needed to be approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board. The Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC) is the buyer. The vendor was the Nicoletti family, of grain farming fame. Twenty five dwellings and 40,000 merino sheep formed part of the deal which also includes 76,000 hectares of freehold cropping land, the balance held on a leasehold basis. It is SALIC’s first Australian acquisition.

ASX-listed Cedar Woods Properties Limited, meanwhile, is paying private landholders including members of the Kailis family $28.25 million for a Perth landholding. The 20.2 hectare block in Brabham has the potential to be subdivided into about 380 residential lots. It lies adjacent to Cedar Woods’ Ariella housing estate - the developer’s best-selling project out of 34 it controls nationally.

Ariella Housing Estate, Cedar Woods.

Image Credit: Ariella Private Estate

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

A fully-leased Wayside office sold for just over $16 million late last month – a deal which reflects a 6.9 per cent passing yield. The investment, 67 Greenhill Road, includes 3,308sqm of area over three levels and 120 car parks. With naming rights to one of the tenants, AMP Advice, it is rented to multiple occupiers.

Meanwhile a small Adelaide CBD office at 453 Morphett Street has netted an impressive price, trading for between $1.2 million and $1.3 million on the last day of April. The two-storey building, with 439sqm of lettable area, sits on a 253sqm plot between Whitmore Square and South Terrace. Agents marketed the attractive site to investors, owner-occupiers and developers.

67 Greenhill Road, Wayside

Image Credit: Colliers International