This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
PROPERTY developer Victorian Investment Management Group (VIMG) is believed to have paid around $40 million for 11,170 hectares of land in Western Australia’s Lancelin, in one of the largest urban land parcel transactions of recent years.
The portfolio includes 8,700 hectares of farmland, 675 hectares of urban development land that could accommodate over 4,000 residential lots, and a further 1,775 hectares of rural and coastal conversation land.
It was owned by Texan-born entrepreneur and philanthropist, Joseph Matthews, who died in 2019. The proceeds of sale will go to his not-for-profit charity The Karakin Foundation which assists adults with intellectual disabilities, provides educational scholarships and specially adapted homes for disabled US veterans.
Selling agents of the portfolio were JLL’s Sean Flynn, Chris Holgar, Clayton Smith and Geoff Warriner, together with Axia Corporate Property’s Wayne Mitsikas and John Garland.
Considered one of the largest land holdings in the district, the portfolio stretches from the coastal community of Lancelin South, about 120 kilometres north of Perth, to Breton Bay and has a 21-kilometre frontage to Indian Ocean Drive, which connects directly to Wanneroo Road and the Perth freeway network.
Lancelin has historically been considered a small coastal fishing community and holiday destination, but more people are looking to permanently relocate to the town due in part to the improving road and rail links, Flynn said. The town has seen median house sale prices jump by 28% over recent years.
The urban development portion of the portfolio incorporates Lancelin South Estate. Flynn said having an approved structural plan with 27 lots on hand also means that a buyer could “hit the ground running with an ambitious urban expansion plan”.
VIMG acquired the asset to complement its recent purchase of Eastpoint Plaza and their establishment of a Perth office.
The broadacre farmland component has historically been utilised for a range of agricultural pursuits, and benefits from reliable rainfall and fertile sandy loam soils with the potential to support intensive agriculture, cultivation of cereal and legume crops and grazing of livestock, Holgar said.
