3-5 Wellington Street, Paynesville
The supermarket and Australia Post office property sold for $10 million, on a 5.35% yield. It comprises a 2,023sqm full-line Ritchies IGA plus Liquor as well as the post office, with a 7.35 weighted average lease expiry and an annual return of $535,442pa plus GST. The building is on a 4,462sqm Commercial 1-zoned site.
1345 Sydney Road, Fawkner
The 909sqm property occupied by Supercheap Auto sold for $5.45 million. Supercheap Auto’s 8-year term returns $290,000pa.
70-72 Mount Eliza Way, Mount Eliza
A Melbourne-based investor paid bought the 188sqm building occupied by the Bank of Queensland for $2.45 million. The bank has a 5-year lease with options to 2032, returning $106,090pa.
70-72 Union Street, Kyabram
The fuel and convenience centre occupied by EG Group sold for $810,000. EG Group has a 5-year ground lease until November 2028 that returns $39,990pa plus GST, with 3 5-year options.
Shop 1/17 Arabin Street, Keilor
An investor bought the 78sqm shop for $695,000. Women’s clothing boutique Bjorn Lucky has a 1+1+1-year lease returning $30,000pa.
51 Playne Street, Frankston
The vacant 335sqm commercial building on 416sqm of land sold for $1 million.
42 Corporate Drive, Heatherton
The 1,108sqm industrial medical facility on a 3,536sqm Commercial 2-zoned site, occupied by cord blood and tissue bank Cell Care, sold for $7.38 million. Cell Care’s lease runs to December 2032 with a 5-year option, and returns $340,043pa plus GST.
68 Barrie Road, Tullamarine
A commercial window business paid $2.65 million for the vacant 880sqm office and warehouse, which is on a 1,026sqm Industrial 1-zoned site with 12 car parks.
19 Temple Drive, Thomastown
The vacant 540sqm warehouse, on an 860sqm, site sold for $1.398 million.
3/23-35 Malcolm Place, Campbellfield
The 550sqm office and warehouse on 889sqm of land sold for $1.33 million.
15 Sixth Avenue, Chelsea Heights
The vacant 21,565sqm site, earmarked for 59 townhouses and a 148-place childcare centre, sold for $13.5 million.
Melbourne’s prime shopping strip market has passed yet another test for 2024, with a dual tenanted freehold in famous Burke Road, Camberwell occupied by Specsavers and Woodfrog Bakery selling for $4.88 million.
Fitzroys’ Chris James, David Bourke and Ben Liu sold 570-572 Burke Road, Camberwell on behalf of a private investor.
The 2-level dual-fronted building of 403sqm is occupied by international brand Specsavers on a 10+5-year lease and the popular Woodfrog Bakery on a 5+5-year lease.
The sale price came in well above campaign expectations of circa $4.5 million.
“We’ve again seen a competitive auction campaign demonstrate the strength of the market, with investors turning to prime Melbourne shopping strip assets with strong lease covenants for security at a time of share market and residential market volatility,” James said.
“The market has really come to life this Spring.
“This was a rare opportunity to acquire a set-and-forget dual-fronted freehold with an excellent tenancy profile and secure income streams, located in the prime trading section of Camberwell Junction. National tenant Specsavers recently renewed their lease and have just commenced a new fit-out, and Woodfrog Bakery trades really well from its tenancy fronting the Camberwell Fresh Food Market.”
Liu said, “Few assets in the heart of famous Burke Road, Camberwell come to the market, and when they do they are highly sought after. The reputation of Melbourne’s inner-east and the Boroondara stretches far and wide - we had more than 115 enquiries come from local, national and offshore investors.”
The property is in the absolute prime of Camberwell Junction, surrounded by national retailers including Country Road's new flagship store, Sportscraft, T2, Priceline, Kathmandu, Mecca, Mountfords Shoes and Frankie4. The property’s Market Place frontage is directly across from the Camberwell Fresh Food Market and a major car park, and forms part of a vibrant hospitality precinct that features Laurent, cafe My Other Brother (MOB Camberwell), and more.
According to Fitzroys’ latest Walk the Strip report, Burke Road and Camberwell Junction’s vacancy rate recorded just single digits for another year at 6.1%, again below the Melbourne-wide average.
Liu said ongoing generational renewal of the immediate area will provide further support for trade, activity and rental growth along Burke Road over the long-term. Burke Road, Camberwell has been the beneficiary of medium and high-density development, which has boosted the established, affluent catchment and underpinned trade, while Council activity is promoting further developments on and around Burke Road and Camberwell Junction, and the Victorian government also has its own plans for boosting residential development in the immediate area.
Camberwell has also emerged as a premium inner suburban commercial office location, which is attracting workers throughout the day and further driving trade.
Recent prime shopping strip sales by Fitzroys have included nearby 626 Burke Road, Camberwell, anchored by national footwear brand Frankie4 and which sold for $5.081 million - at $1 million above reserve - on a sharp 3.6% yield; the home of the Commonwealth Bank branch on Acland Street, St Kilda for $4.4 million, $300,000 beyond the reserve and on a 4.9% yield; and 48 Church Street, Brighton, securely leased to Bed Bath N’ Table, also on a 3.6% yield.
New Industrial Estates Set For East and West
Two new industrial estates are set to be delivered to Melbourne’s eastern and western suburbs following major transactions.
888 Property Group has spent $100 million acquiring the 42ha site at 687 Hopkins Road, which is in the western growth corridor suburb of Truganina, and will undergo rezoning as part of the Chartwell East Precinct Structure Plan before being transformed into an industrial estate.
Meanwhile, fund manager and developer Centennial has bought the 6ha site at 8 Dunlop Court in Bayswater, where it will deliver a multi-tenanted 32,000sqm logistics estate. The site is currently improved by an older-style 26,300sqm manufacturing and distribution facility.
In recent months, Elanor Investors Group and PGIM acquired a 19ha Mulgrave site home to a Woolworths storage facility, with plans to develop a 113,000sqm industrial estate once the supermarket giant’s lease ends in 2026.
Up To 1,000 New Homes In Bonnie Brook
888 Property Group has also acquired a 48-hectare site in the north-western growth suburb of Bonnie Brook, in another $100 million transaction.
The 562 to 600 Leakes Road site could support the development of up to 1,000 homes.
The acquisition comes as the Victorian government announced it will release 27 greenfield areas across Melbourne’s outer south-east, north, and west over the next 10 years for new housing, with the potential delivery of as many as 180,000 new homes.
Go-ahead For Fitzroy Gasworks Site
The old Fitzroy Gasworks site, at the corner of Smith Street and Alexandra Parade, has been approved for the delivery of 820 homes.
The Victorian Government announced a joint venture made up of Assemble, Milieu and Hickory, backed by superannuation funds Australian Super and HESTA, would deliver 2 stages of the 3-stage project.
The 2 stages will include 168 affordable homes. Assemble will construct 400 build-to-rent homes, 80 of which will be community housing, and Milieu will deliver 420 homes in partnership with Nightingale, which will include specialist disability accommodation.
Including the third stage, the entire 3.9ha precinct is earmarked for a total 1,200 homes, as well as high school, sports centre and parkland.
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 2023 Fitzroys.