The property portfolios of Vic’s richest private schools revealed: check out what schools own here
They charge huge fees and some received millions in JobKeeper but these elite schools are making big property investments. Check out what they’ve bought up here.
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Some of Victoria’s biggest private schools are land-banking multimillion-dollar properties earmarked for future expansion on their city campuses, the Herald Sun can reveal.
For years, schools such as Scotch College, Caulfield Grammar and Wesley College have gone on multimillion spending sprees, buying up surrounding properties on the boundaries of their leafy campuses.
Private schools – which cannot compulsorily acquire land like state schools - are so keen to acquire strategic properties that they can be willing to pay more than a million dollars over reserve.
Caulfield Grammar is listed as the owner of nearly 100 properties but has also been buying up commercial and residential properties around its Malvern and Caulfield sites.
A two-storey mansion on Willoby Ave the school owns is estimated to be worth $5.5m.
Wesley College has 63 titles in Melbourne, the Yarra Ranges, Clunes and Cape Bridgewater and owns a number of multimillion-dollar properties around its St Kilda Rd campus, including 27, 29 and 31 Alfred St Prahran.
Many private school land purchases are not openly publicised for fear of further driving up prices, antagonising residents or sparking heritage debates.
As the Herald Sun revealed last week, Korowa Anglican Girls’ School is facing strong objections to its redevelopment on a seven-title site on Malvern Rd in Glen Iris, with neighbours lamenting the loss of leafy heritage homes.
However, some schools are open about their intentions and use the properties for school operations such as uniform shops or administration.
Scotch College has even advised potential buyers about what properties it owns.
The elite boys’ school owns a single 27-hectare campus on the edge of the Yarra River in Hawthorn, 80 hectares in the forest at Healesville and a camp in Cowes at Phillip Island.
It has also been strategically buying up land on Hambledon Rd in Hawthorn and owns all but ten houses.
The school paid $3.2m for number 20 Hambledon Rd - $1m over reserve in 2017.
At the time, the school said the purchase was “part of that long-term strategy and adds to an already strong Scotch presence on Hambledon Road”.
In cases such as Methodist Ladies’ College and St Catherine’s School, the properties are lavish heritage homes in nearby streets or houses in locations on the boundary of the campuses which have changed hands for between $4 and $8m.
Some schools such as Ivanhoe Grammar even have commercial real estate properties in their portfolios.
The school has been buying commercial properties along Lower Heidelberg Rd, including numbers 43, 62 and 70. These include All 4 Pets, a pet superstore at number 62.
Paul Walsh, head of advancement for the school, said such commercial property interests “are viewed as both additional income streams that we hope will appreciate over time and properties that can accommodate ‘non-academic’ school operations.
“The purchase of the site now occupied by All 4 Pets was seen at the time as a sound commercial opportunity, which has been proven over time, to be a very worthwhile investment”.
A worker from the shop told the Herald Sun the school was a “great” landlord to have.
Claire Wenn, a real estate agent from Belle Property Balwyn who works in the heart of the eastern suburbs private school belt, said buyers often liked to be close to where their children go to school. “The added bonus is that if a school has indicated interest in purchasing the property, they are more likely to pay above market value,” she said.
Other private schools are closing campuses and consolidating operations on main sites.
These include Xavier College, which recently sold its Brighton campus for $100m, and Geelong Grammar which will close its Bostock House primary campus in Noble St Geelong and build a new primary school on its 230-hectare Corio campus.
Geelong Grammar council chair Paddy Handbury said the new purpose-built school was “a significant strategic project for the School, a transformational ‘Timbertop moment’, and an exciting new chapter for our Bostock House community”.
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