This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE Monash City Council has netted $50 million from the sale of a car park in Glen Waverley, which has been snapped up by a developer harbouring plans for a mixed-use precinct with 60,000 sqm of gross floor area.
Council is directing funds from the sale of 281 Springvale Road towards the Glen Waverley Civic Precinct Project, which will also be supported by funds received from the Victorian government’s compulsory acquisition of Council land in Glen Waverley for the $35 billion Suburban Rail Loop.
Mayor Nicky Luo said the Glen Waverley Civic Precinct Project is a “key transformational project” for the Glen Waverley Activity Centre, replacing the current aged library and adding community meeting and office spaces.
The 6,114 sqm site is currently serving as a public at-grade car park. It has three street frontages totalling over 274 metres and was billed as the last major Glen Waverley Activity Centre development site.
The $50.88 million sale was managed by Cushman & Wakefield’s Leon Ma, Joe Kairouz, Daniel Wolman, Hamish Burgess, and Marcus Neill, with the expressions of interest process receiving over 100 enquiries.
The buyer, an Australia-based, Asian-origin private developer, was sourced from the Asia capital services team, headed up by Ma.
“The purchaser was largely attracted to site due to its scale and also location within a major activity centre of Glen Waverley, which has significant amenity and also quite a lot of transport facilities as well, both existing and planned – namely the Suburban Rail Loop,” Kairouz told Australian Property Journal.
“We believe their plans are be to develop the site into a landmark mixed-use development, incorporating commercial, retail and apartments.”
The purchaser had indicated a development with potentially 60,000 sqm of gross floor area.
“Despite all the headwinds and the negative sentiment being spoken about development sites and investing in development sites in Victoria, there is still plenty of engagement for sites that are located in key suburban areas, from developers as well as capital partners of developers that are looking to invest in projects,” Kairouz told Australian Property Journal.
“We’ve got good levels of migration. We need to be providing more dwellings and more housing options and opportunities like this really do go a long way to providing a diversity of residential dwellings in locations that can accommodate the increased density,” he said.
As a requirement of the contract of sale, Council will excise about 1,000 sqm of land on the western boundary of the site for retention as a future public plaza, and Council also requires the purchaser to provide an active interface, not only blank walls, between the land and the new public plaza.
The purchaser is also required to provide a footpath along the Railway Parade North frontage.
The land will remain a free public car park, until the purchaser is ready to commence a development on the land.
