This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
NEARLY one hectare of land within Melbourne’s popular eastern city fringe market is up for sale, with expectations of more than $80 million for the site that was once part of the Bryant & May match factory before being home of Hamilton Porsche.
Located three kilometres east of the CBD, the 9,715 sqm Cremorne island site at 560 Church Street has commercial 2 zoning is expected to attract major developers and property players.
It has been offered shortly after Charter Hall confirmed a pre-commitment with Australia Post at its $410 million 480 Church Street development in one of the first moves out of a CBD location for a multi-billion dollar tenant, while Alfasi Group is offering a half stake in a $250 million A-grade tower at 510 Church Street that it speculatively developed and has almost entirely filled.
A development concept for 560 Church Street site prepared by architects Rothelowman indicates a total gross floor area of approximately 44,000 sqm over 12 to 16 stories, and 500 basement car spaces.
The site is located within 11 allotments and offers 60 metres of frontage to Church Street and frontages to Chestnut and Adelaide streets, along with the privately-owned Russell Street to the south.
Currently it comprises a collection of office, showroom and warehouse spaces across 7,634 sqm of lettable area. Tenants include furniture retailer Nick Scali and Fitness First, accounting for 77% of rental income, and an estimated fully let net income of $2.4 million.
There are also 162 undercroft and open car spaces.
Constructed from 1909 and significantly redeveloped and partially restored from 1987 through to the early 1990s, the property originally formed part of the adjoining Bryant & May Factory complex, and was later home of Hamilton Porsche.
According to marketing agents, Dawkins Occhiuto’s Andrew Dawkins, Tim Grant and Walter Occhiuto, the property offers an exceptional opportunity to enter the precinct at scale with the potential for a landmark, staged development.
“We expect a site like this to create quite a stir in development circles based on its history, the all-around accessibility to a very large site, the flexible zoning and the significant income stream,” Dawkins said.
“Then of course there is the extraordinary and ongoing demand that this precinct has attracted in recent years and the confidence that developers will have around delivering a new project in such a strong market.”
The location has attracted Domain, Seek, Uber, Tesla, Disney, and more recently Bunnings, among others, with the offer of easy connectivity and lower rents than the tight CBD market – at least, before the pandemic.
Cremorne – a tiny pocket that the Victorian government estimates contributes $4 billion to the state’s economy each year – and bigger neighbour Richmond has been a particularly active part of Melbourne’s office market in 2021.
Next door to Australia Post’s future home will be a $190 million speculative commercial development that will rise 13 stories and bring 17,000 sqm of commercial offices, while Fortis recently added a 1,850 sqm site in Cremorne to its development portfolio with plans for a new $130 million commercial building.
Co-workspace provider Hub Australia will open a new 3,000 sqm offering at Salta Properties and Abacus Property Group’s Industry Lanes development.
Back at 560 Church Street, Tom Byrnes and Andrew Grant from Charter Keck Cramer are acting as transaction advisors. Expressions of interest close 11th November.
