Historic Carlton Building Back to Full Occupancy
One of Carlton’s most historic office buildings, on the former site of Royal Children’s Hospital, is back to full occupancy following a commitment from workplace rehabilitation services provider AMS Consulting Group.
Fitzroys agents Samuel Friend and Stephen Land negotiated the 3-year lease over the recently renovated 460sqm part-ground floor and full first-floor office space at $140,000 per annum gross.
Not-for-profits, government health organisations, architects and financial services firms were all keen on the space. Tenants in the building include Vic Health, Vision 2020, Centre for Policy Development, and National Education & Care Services.
The 6,178sqm building at 15-31 Pelham Street was part of the broader Melbourne Free Hospital for Sick Children site, which became the Royal Children’s Hospital. When the RCH moved to Parkville, the site was handed over to the Mental Health Authority in 1962 and the 15-31 Pelham Street building became St Nicholas’s Hospital, which closed in 1985.
Friend said building has received upgrades over recent years and has been at or close to full occupancy throughout that time.
“Businesses are increasingly looking to accommodate a generation of Melburnians that prefer to live, work and go out across the inner city. Carlton offers cheaper rents than the CBD, while 15-31 Pelham Street is accessible via a range of transport options and is a short walk from the Carlton’s amenity and lifestyle offerings.”
Fitzroys handled the $37.05 million transaction of the building late in 2016, with a private Melbourne investor picking up the asset.
Meanwhile, Melbourne CBD’s office boom could continue for some years yet. BIS Oxford Economics expects prime rents could rise a further 30% to 40% in the city over the next five years. The Property Council’s vacancy rate measurement of 3.2% at the start of this year may rise to just above 5% next as some 250,000sqm of new office stock is brought to the market, but will come back down to around 4% amid ongoing strong tenancy demand.
Newmark Adds to Portfolio
Newmark Capital has acquired Stockland’s Tooronga Village neighbourhood shopping centre in Glen Iris for around $63 million. Anchored by a full-line Coles supermarket and First Choice Liquor, the 8,793sqm centre also has 30 specialty stores and a weighted average lease expiry of 5.5 years, and returns more than $4.2 million. It is on an 18,430sqm site with 488 parking spaces.
Newmark Capital is moving ahead with its Jam Factory redevelopment that will create a $1.25 billion-plus precinct, featuring towers from four to 15 storeys with more than 50,000sqm of office space, as well as new retail and lifestyle space, and its popular cinema.
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 2019 Fitzroys.