This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
LOCAL developer Neometro is eyeing off the medium-term potential of a 5,000 sqm inner Melbourne site, paying nearly $22 million for the Fitness First facility.
The site at 97 Alma Road is fully leased to Fitness First until October 2024, with no further options, and is currently home to a multi-level gym, recreation, and leisure centre that includes work-out studios, an 25-metre pool and two futsal courts.
Neometro will bank annual rent of $841,399 plus GST per annum.
Colliers’ Peter Bremner, Jozef Dickinson, Trent Hobart and Ted Dwyer managed the $21.8 million sale.
Dickinson said the scale and location of the property made it a prime medium-term redevelopment prospect.
“The property appealed to a variety of buyer types, validating the multitude of potential redevelopment options (STCA),” he said, adding that the location and scale of the land area suited residential, aged-care and retirement or ongoing use with value-add upside.
“The campaign was hotly contested and it was great to see such prominent involvement from some of Melbourne’s most recognised developers, who clearly saw the unique attributes of the site as a rare opportunity.”
The bayside site is being directly opposite Alma Park and within walking distance to Chapel Street in the chic and popular suburb of Windsor, the Balaclava shopping village and Fitzroy Street in St Kilda. It offers easy access to all modes of public transport and major arterial roads including Windsor and Balaclava train stations and Dandenong and St Kilda Road trams.
Neometro director, James Tutton, said 2021 was a “year of very significant growth” for the company.
“We made some major acquisitions and securing Alma Rd days before Christmas was the perfect icing on the cake.”
“We’re very active on the northside – Brunswick, Northcote, Thornbury, Fitzroy etc. We’ve got a long history in the southside too and we’re looking forward to getting back there.”
Neometro’s projects include the recently launched Nine Wilson Ave in Brunswick’s Jewell Station Village, where it recorded nearly 40% of sales across the 73 apartments during the holiday period, while it is also developing a collection of six three-bedroom townhouses IN Thornbury.
Tim Bolton from Bolton Property acted as transaction advisor for the Alma Road property, representing the long-time vendors for the property.
