This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
MELBOURNE-based property investor Vantage Property Investments has secured inner Brisbane’s Willougby and Co. Woolstores building – now home to FM radio station Nova – for $28.65 million.
Located in affluent Teneriffe, the 130 Commercial Road building offers 4,097 sqm of character office and retail space. It was constructed in circa 1940 for Willoughby and Co. Importers and Investors and is one of the few woolstores in the precinct to have been converted for commercial use, with most now housing apartments.
As well as long-time tenant Nova, 130 Commercial Road is also occupied by Mainbrace and Queensland government-owned screen agency Screen Queensland.
On the sell side was an unlisted fund managed by Centuria Capital Group subsidiary Primewest, which acquired the building in 2018 for just over $19 million.
CBRE agents Jack Morrison and Adelaide O’Brien brokered the deal along with Cushman and Wakefield’s Mike Walsh, Peter Court and Frederic Le Fanue.
It marks Vantage Property Investments’ first acquisition in Brisbane.
“We were attracted to the point of difference in the character of the Willoughby and Co. Woolstores and strongly believe in the occupier demand for assets of this nature,” said Vantage Property Investments managing director Matt Spring.
He said Vantage Property Investments has plans for the building that harness the heritage attributes and identity of the building.
Vantage’s director of acquisitions and investments Paul Henley said the office market has seen a shift towards quality office accommodation in key locations.
“The Brisbane near-city Teneriffe Urban Renewal precinct is one of the most desirable areas with the riverfront suburb being amenity rich and within walking distance of the CBD. It is a location Vantage expects will continually grow and thrive in a city we believe has an extremely strong future.”
In May, Vantage acquired an office development in Melbourne’s eastern suburb of Hawthorn in a $30 million-plus deal with Pace Development Group.
Also in Melbourne, last summer it was a major owner of the “Skipping Girl” office building on the city fringe that sold to a private investor.
