This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
AN investor who spent $15 million on a tract of industrial development land in Melbourne’s south-east can is in for a mammoth windfall, putting its Officer South site to the market with expectations exceeding 10 times the acquisition figure.
The 100-hectare site is being sold by B&S Land’s Callum Williamson and Andrew Egan via expressions of interest on behalf of private investment group Newlink Investments.
B&S Land would not comment on the price, however, industry sources said the site could expect to sell for in excess of $150 million.
Situated at 465 Cardinia Road, the site is located adjacent to Cadence Property Group’s $180 million South Point Industrial Park with direct access to the Princes Freeway Interchange.
“Melbourne’s southeast land market is highly constrained, which is frequently highlighted by the record industrial land deals in the corridor. This is one of the last opportunities to purchase a privately held and unrepeatable significant industrial site in the area,” Williamson said.
Some market commentators estimated there is as little as one year’s supply of zoned industrial land left in the south-east. That has supported continued rent growth, with prime and secondary face rental growth in the south-east up 3.3% and 3.7% respectively in the December quarter.
Egan said the property is in a “terrific location and the area has seen a rush of developers take positions over the last 24 months, recognising the area’s connectivity to national freight networks.”
When contacted for comment, general manager of Newlink Investments, Gerard Adamsons the 465 Cardinia Road “has been a fantastic asset for our group” and will ultimately form a key part of the Cardinia and Thompsons Road employment hub.
“The market appetite for prime industrial and employment land of this scale has been quite insatiable. We get calls almost daily from various developers wanting to buy the land from us, so we decided to take the property to the market.
“We have a number of other exciting projects in our portfolio we will look to recycle the capital towards.”
Cardinia and Casey industrial development corridor has seen a flurry of activity as farmers cash in the last available landholdings with recent acquisitions. ASX-listed Eildon Capital Group recently snapped up 83 hectares in Officer, while 62 hectares of farmland in Dandenong South that was bought by vendors for $512,000 in 1985 sold to ISPT for more than $300 million.
