This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
A SOUTHBANK development site approved for a 69-storey apartment tower is going on the market and it expected to be hotly contested.
Colliers International’s Trent Hobart, Bryson Cameron and Jun Lai are selling the site located at 55 Clarke St in Southbank. The property is for sale by international expressions of interest closing Wednesday 13 June at 2pm.
The 1,790 sqm site is currently improved by a three-level office building and has a planning permit for a 69-level, 565-apartment/mixed use development designed by architects Elenberg Fraser.
Hobart said the property represented an unparallel opportunity to create a high end vertical residential community.
“The planning permit is extremely valuable, given it has a plot ratio of 30:1, which cannot be repeated,” he said. “Planning laws have changed across the CBD, decreasing to a plot ratio of 18:1.”
“There has already been a distinct lack of sites available for large scale projects over the past two years, a trend which will only exacerbate over the next few years. This will lead to a substantial decrease in supply of apartments across central Melbourne and, with the residential vacancy rate sitting at dangerously low level of around 2% currently, the buyers for sites like 55 Clarke St with large scale residential apartment potential will be handsomely rewarded with price growth,” Hobart said.
Cameron said there was more than $7 billion worth of private and public infrastructure investment within Southbank’s future supply pipeline through to 2021.
“This includes a combination of commercial and mixed-use projects adding to the public amenity and fuelling local employment.
“This permit-approved development will represent one of the most striking residential towers along the fringe of Melbourne CBD and South Melbourne,” Cameron said.
Southbank is abuzz with activity, the 59 Clarke St listing comes after Australian Meat Group director and property investor Joe Catalfamo put a 1,621 sqm site at 344 City Rd site on the market last month, with a permit for a 307-apartment development.
CBRE’s Mark Wizel, Julian White and Nathan Mufale are marketing the property with Frank Vinci and Joseph Carbone of Vinci Carbone. It is expected to bring circa $25 million.
Investors are looking to capitalise on their Southbank sites following a spate of high-profile deals in the area, including BMW selling its corner site at 58 Southbank Boulevard to Malaysian-backed developer Beulah International for $101,008,888.
Also during the summer, Grocon acquired the 1,262 sqm site at 256-266 City Road for $35 million in an off-market deal. It sold with a permit for 410 apartments over 62 levels, but Grocon is expected to use it as a build-to-rent play aimed at worked professionals and executives.
Meanwhile, the 1,123 sqm 296-306 City Road site is believed to have sold for around $18 million, with a proposed development scheme of 172 apartments and commercial space.
CBRE research suggests Southbank’s residential population of 18,700 will grow 7.6% over the next five years to 2022, nearly four times the rate of expected for Greater Melbourne – and to exceed 50,000 by 2036.
UDIA research estimates total building approvals and dwelling commencements between 2018-19 and 2020-21 will need to average 75,000 a year to supply an adequate volume of net additional dwellings, well above the 66,440 approvals in the 2014-2017 period.
Australian Property Journal
