This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
ANOTHER expansive Hobart CBD commercial site is up for grabs, with the 9,365 sqm Tilford Auto Group site also adding another Tasmanian car dealership to the market.
The listing of 35-53 Brisbane Street came as expressions of interest closed for the last Kemp & Denning site at 103 Melville Street and 159-163 Harrington Street nearby, covering 1.18-hectares, and ahead of tomorrow’s Burgess Rawson portfolio auction event in Melbourne that will see seven A.P. Eagers car dealerships across the state go under the hammer.
Tilford has been at Brisbane Street since 1966, and the site itself has been used as a car dealership since 1933. Knight Frank is marketing the site property with a leaseback to Tilford of 10 years with a 10-year option. It has a lettable area of 7,651 sqm and is also used as a service centre.
Knight Frank’s initial expectations for the Kemp & Denning warehouse site were of circa $25 million. It has a warehouse site with an existing building area of 6,374 sqm across multiple structures developed in the mid 1980s, as well as 120 parking spaces, and is being offered with a two-year leaseback from settlement as the vendor seeks planning and development approvals.
The strong tourism market could attract major CBD players such as Singapore’s Fragrance Group, which emerged as the developer that acquired the 179 Macquarie Street property in August, next to its new ibis Styles Hotel, reaching 11 storeys with 296 rooms. The Macquarie Street site has approval for a 30-metre high, nine-storey hotel with 202 rooms.
Meanwhile, at Crown Casino tomorrow Marcus Birrell’s portfolio of A.P. Eagers car dealerships will be put to auction, with expectations a combined $50 million.
The sites are located in Launceston, Invermay, Hobart, Derwent Park, Glenorchy, Burnie and Devonport and are leased to AP Eager until 2026.
The Derwent Park property is the largest, covering more than three hectares, while the Holden and Hyandai site at 195 Macquarie Street in Hobart’s CBD covers 7,753 sqm.
Birrell was the long-term chairman of Birrell Motors Group until he sold the business to ASX-listed A.P. Eagers Group – of which he is now a director – in 2015 for $114 million.
Australian Property Journal
