This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
A KENSINGTON development site in Melbourne’s inner city has entered the market, adding to the suburbs advancing infrastructure and residential growth.
The 8,803sqm site at 346-350 Macauley Road, in the former industrial area of inner-city Melbourne, comprises an existing four-level office building and adjoining warehouse, with John Holland Pty Ltd as its tenant.
Josh Rutman, Noral Wild and David Hill from JLL and Trent Hobart, Hamish Burgess and Jozef Dickinson from Colliers International have been appointed to sell the property via an expressions of interest campaign on behalf of United Asia Group (UAG).
UAG acquired the site back in 2018 and in that time BCS and Hayball Architects designed 424 apartments to span six buildings on the site. With landscape by Openwork, the development design includes a gym, swimming pool, gardens, laneways and pedestrian links.
“This remarkable site has been a focus for our team since we acquired it in 2018, and we have been meticulous in creating a wonderful design that will provide contemporary apartments in a healthy and vibrant village atmosphere,” said Nicole Chow, managing director and founder of UAG.
Macauley, an area which encompasses parts of both North Melbourne and Kensington is set to transition into a mixed-use, mid-rise neighbourhood. With the area set to accommodate 10,000 residents and 9,500 jobs by the year 2051, according to the City of Melbourne.
“We have revised our usual build-to-sell strategy for this one project only due to significant approaches from local and international groups eager to acquire the permitted site. We are eager to see the design come to fruition and I think it will be an amazing project for Kensington and Melbourne,” added Chow.
“346-350 Macaulay Road provides an opportunity to deliver a precinct as opposed to just a building and is something that has proven to be quite attractive to tenants and owner occupiers in the residential space,” said Rutman, head of middle markets and metropolitan investments, Victoria, at JLL.
The area is set to transform from an industrial economy to a knowledge intensive economy, with redevelopment making the area more productive and producing more jobs, according to the Arden Macauley Structure Plan.
“The subject property is uniquely positioned within walking distance of two train stations – Macaulay Station and Kensington Station, benefits from the village retail strip a few moments away and has views back across the Melbourne CBD skyline. These attributes along with a permitted residential building that has been designed to a class on par with global standards are all the characteristics for an enviable residential lifestyle,” said Hobart.
