This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
A BEACHFRONT site ripe for development in Melbourne’s sought-after Brighton has been put to the market by the Redemptorists with expectations of more than $25 million.
Next to the Royal Brighton Yacht Club, the 3,348 sqm property at 257 St Kilda Street is currently improved by three-level mansion Majellan House, from which the owner lives and directs their ministry, Majellan Media.
The Redemptorists have been in Australia since 1882 and are a community of Catholic priests, brothers and lay partners. Their Brighton house has been a place of hospitality, as well as the print communication hub from which they published, among many things, the quarterly magazine The Majellan.
This is the first time in 60 years the property has been put to the market. It is being offered through James Thorpe, Stephen Kelly and Langton McHarg of Knight Frank, by way of expression of interest running to 8th December.
Thorpe said the property’s location is the biggest drawcard, along with the size and development potential of the site.
“Very, very rarely would anything of this magnitude in a location like Brighton become available for sale, so we are confident buyer interest will reflect the scarcity of an offering like this.”
He said the property is zoned residential, and within this zoning there are multiple options for a developer, including building their dream home, a multi-unit development or an apartment development.
“The existing building could be retained for a future development, or the buyer could start with a blank canvass.”
Thorpe added that the location of the property was unparalleled, in one of Melbourne’s most desirable suburbs, with direct beach frontage and a corner allotment, with frontage to both St Kilda Street and Mytton Grove.
“This Brighton property is of such a calibre that we see it as an inflation-proof asset, and buyers have the ability to park their capital in a land banking play if desired, with the ability to develop in the future.”
A spokesperson for the Redemptorists said, “This property has been a home for Redemptorists for 60 years, from which we have written and published extensively about the gift and challenges in family life in Australia and New Zealand,”
“Its beautiful and calming vista has made it a welcoming place of hospitality for generations of families.”
