Retailers Take Opportunities Across the Inner North-West
Retail tenants are continuing to seek high-quality and well-located leasing opportunities in Melbourne’s inner north-west, regardless of the COVID-19 conditions.
Fitzroys Senior Manager Ervin Niyaz has secured a string of leasing deals in Moonee Ponds and Pascoe Vale. At 1 Puckle Street, Moonee Ponds, a bridal showroom and dressmaker has leased 563sqm across the ground and 1st level in separate deals Niyaz negotiated on behalf of Mary’s Fruit Supply Pty Ltd and another private landlord.
Both spaces were leased for 6 years plus 5-year options, with 3% fixed increases at option. The 120sqm Shop 1 on the ground floor was leased at $40,000 per annum plus outgoings and GST, and 453sqm on Level 1 leased at $50,000 per annum plus outgoings and GST.
Niyaz said the tenant is a local operator who has relocated to a larger and more prominent building for higher level of exposure due to a growing business.
The building is on the high-profile corner Moonee Ponds Junction bus and tram interchange, at the corner the popular Puckle Street shopping strip, Mount Alexander Road and Pascoe Vale Road.
“Good opportunities for businesses will continue to attract the attention of strong- performing and innovative traders,” Niyaz said.
“Tenants are taking a long-term view of leases, showing confidence in a broader retail recovery over time and the growth prospects of Melbourne’s inner north-west, with Moonee Ponds and the surrounds currently experiencing generational levels of residential and commercial development.”
“Demand for retail, from food and beverage to services, will inevitably increase as the projects are undertaken and reach completion in the coming years.”
Also in Moonee Ponds, Niyaz leased the 70sqm Ground Floor Kiosk Cafe within the Australian Taxation Office building at 6-22 Gladstone Street to Agent 22 Pty Ltd on a long- term 12-year deal with 3% fixed annual increases. The tenant is an experienced operator with 2 other cafés.
The building is undergoing a significant refurbishment and re-leasing of more than 6,000sqm of office space. The ATO occupies around 15,000sqm.
There are more than 1,500 apartments within the Moonee Ponds Activity Centre in various stages of planning and development, while the future $2 billion overhaul of the nearby Moonee Valley Racecourse will include multiple residential and commercial buildings, adding a further 2,000 dwellings.
In the neighbouring suburb of Pascoe Vale, Niyaz leased a highly-exposed 152sqm corner property at90 Cumberland Road to Bandwagon Store Pty Ltd for their retail sale of packaged liquor and bar concept.
Niyaz said the new tenants are experienced operators in the pub and brewing industry who saw a gap in the market in and around the area and snapped up the high-profile opportunity in the heart of Pascoe Vale’s retail core, with 11 on-site parking spaces and a neighbouring TAB.
The 3-year lease has a 7-year option and was struck at $85,000 plus outgoings and GST, with annual 4% fixed increases and a market review at option.
Sands & McDougall Building Sells
The former Sands & McDougall manufactory on Spencer Street has sold for $38.5 million to Avari Capital Partners, who will refurbish and lease out the heritage-listed building that was part of a combined site earmarked for a hotel and office development.
Planning permits were obtained last year for a 23-level, 190-room hotel and office complex for the West Melbourne site comprising 355-369 Spencer Street, where the Sands & McDougall building sits, 371 Spencer Street and 102-108 Jeffcott Street. Joint owners, Resimax Property Group owner Aziz “Ozzie” Kheir, Probuild founder Phil Mehrten and developer Frank Palazzo obtained the properties in 2015 for $38.8 million.
Most recently used as offices, the 6-level, 7,363sqm red-brick Sands & McDougall building was constructed in 1888 on a 2,000sqm corner site and was the long-term home of the printing and publishing firm, known for its annual Melbourne Directory that ran from 1862 until 1974.
The vacant Jeffcott Street portion of the site has a 2-storey circa-1914 brick warehouse on 920sqm and sold last week for $9.5 million. It is likely to be used for a high-density apartment project.
Green Light for Melbourne’s Tallest Tower
The Victorian Government has approved 4 major Melbourne projects, including Beulah International’s $2 billion mixed-use “Green Spine” Southbank tower, which will be the tallest in Melbourne and Australia.
Approval was also given to Charter Hall’s $1.5 billion office project at 555 Collins Street, a 35,000sqm office tower by Dexus at 52-60 Collins Street, and Pace Development’s $300 million, 300-apartment project at the top of the main straight of Flemington Racecourse.
The Green Spine tower on the BMW dealership site at 118 City Road will have 789 apartments, a 322-room hotel, 27,000sqm of office space and 32,000sqm of retail. The proposed height of 368.1m puts the tower just above the air traffic control limit of 357.2m. A modified plan takes 11.1m off the height if demanded by aviation authorities, but the tower would remain the country’s tallest.
Charter Hall’s 555 Collins Street project will comprise around 80,000sqm of office space across 2 buildings rising up to 34 levels, on a 4,600sqm site that includes 55 King Street which Charter Hall bought separately to the Collins Street property.
Dexus is similarly building an office project on a corner site purchased over separate deals. At the east end of the CBD, 52-60 Collins Street is on 2,000sqm at the corner of Exhibition Street and was bought for a combined $230 million in 2018.
The site is across the road from 80 Collins Street, which Dexus purchased last year for $1.476 billion. 80 Collins Street is nearing completion and will comprise a new 255-room boutique hotel, a new 35-level office tower, a retail podium with 21 tenancies, and an existing 47-level office tower.
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 2020 Fitzroys.