This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
ALMOST nine years after abandoning the apartments market, Stockland is returning to the sector, splashing out $15 million for a Brunswick development site, taking on rival Mirvac which has just bought one hectare of land next door.
Encompassing 4,010 sqm of land, Stockland’s new asset at 429 Albert St was initially part a string of 12 industrial properties Mirvac has successfully lobbied Planning Minister Richard Wynne on behalf of landowners to have rezoned to mixed use.
Mirvac walked away from an agreement to buy the entire amalgamated block at 395-329 Albert St, but after 18 months returned to the table to pay nearly $40 million for 395-403 Albert St. It is planning a build to rent project of more than 400 dwellings with an end value of over $200 million on the site.
Stockland will look to build 10 townhouses and about 140 apartments on at number 429. This would mark its first apartment project in the city since a Tooronga development over 10 years ago.
The tract of land, opposite Gilpin Park and adjacent to Clifton Park, offers development potential of up to eight levels in height.
Used as a workshop and storage yard for NeoRustic, which sells Australian hardwood, timber benches, and recycled timber products, the warehouse and storage yard site at 429 Albert St was put up for sale after the Mirvac deal fell through with expectations believed to be about $18 million. Savills negotiated the Stockland deal following a separate campaign.
It has been almost nine year since Stockland made a high-profile exit of the apartments sector after selling its last development site in South Yarra.
