This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
AS it consolidates its chambers to another building a city block over, Barristers Chambers Limited (BCL) has put a 12-storey office building in the Melbourne CBD’s legal district up for sale with hopes of $25 million.
On the former Four Courts Hotel site, the 180 William Street building – known as Douglas Menzies Chambers – stands at the corner of Little Bourke Street on 395 sqm of land adjacent to The Supreme Court of Victoria. It is being offered for sale with levels 1 to 11 available with vacant possession. There is a leased café on the ground floor.
Douglas Menzies Chambers was constructed circa 1973 and has 3,401 sqm of floor space, with the average floor plate having a net lettable area of 303 sqm. The building features abundant natural light and view lines from two sides, and offices with north facing windows overlook the Supreme Court.
BCL purchased Aickin Chambers at 200 Queen Street last year from Charter Hall for $177 million, and is currently upgrading and consolidating its accommodation portfolio.
It means 180 William is up for sale for the first time the property since 1992.
Barristers’ Chambers Limited’s (BCL) purpose is to be the home of the Victorian Bar, open to all. Established in 1959 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Victorian Bar, BCL is a unique model providing a broad range of chambers, technology network services, full service desk support and managed floor service to over 1,400 barristers in seven buildings.
Colliers’ Matt Stagg, Nick Garoni and Yvonne Zhou are expressions of interest campaign, which closes Thursday, March 27th.
“The property is strategically positioned for a law firm seeking a prominent legal precinct headquarters with valuable naming and signage rights. A law firm may owner- occupy all or part of the building and lease the balance to other legal tenants,” Stagg said.
The Supreme Court, County Court, Magistrates Court and Commonwealth Law Courts building are all located along William Street, between Little Bourke Street and La Trobe Street, within 250 metres of 180 William Street.
Garoni, said the building presents alternate investment and value add opportunities that may be explored, including refurbishment and re-leasing, strata subdivision, construction of additional levels or conversion to alternate use.
“The 303 sqm floor plates are ideally suited to whole floor strata offices that may be sold down individually to private law firms and other owner-occupiers,” he said.
It is the second Melbourne CBD office building to be tipped to the market in 2025. Swiss fund manager ST Real Estate has put 50 Queen Street back on the market, hoping to capitalise on growing investor optimism, although it is unlikely to net the $80 million hoped for when it put the building to the market in 2022, before the recent valuation cycle.
The B-grade 16-storey office building has 9,156 sqm of net lettable area and occupies a 917 sqm site. It is currently 73% leased and generates a fully leased net income of more than $4.6 million.
