This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
A MELBOURNE-based development group has acquired a 434 hectare parcel of land in the northern suburbs for a figure believed to be above $100 million.
Known as Merri Park, the parcel comprises 900 to 1000-plus lots of precinct structure plan- approved residential land, and 199 hectares of premium future industrial land that sits within Beveridge Intermodal Freight Terminal precinct.
The site is surrounded by large master planned communities, including Stockland’s Cloverton Estate, Mirvac’s Olivine and the Dennis family’s Peppercorn Hill.
The transaction was negotiated by Kane Malcomson, Chris Jabs, and Trent Malcomson of Core Projects. The agents said there were over 120 unique enquiries and 12 formal offers made, and that the property attracted a strong mix of Australian and offshore developer interest.
It is the eighth on-market transaction brokered by Core Projects in Melbourne’s growth corridors in the past six months. It had facilitated the transaction of two large farms in Melton, a significant development site in Mornington, and several large sites in Melbourne’s south east corridor.
Demand for residential land lots across the country surged since the federal government’s announcement of the HomeBuilder grant, and listed player Mirvac has upgraded its full year earnings and distributions guidance following strong sales at its communities.
The greenfield market in the northern growth corridor sold approximately the same amount of lots that it did for the 2019 calendar year, with 1,960 sold during the first three months of this year compared to the 1,980 sold across 2019, according to greenfield research specialist Grant Neilson.
Core Projects believes there is under one month of supply for retail lots currently in the north, and “only a handful” of titled allotments.
