Wantirna South: 530 Burwood Highway opposite Westfield Knox for sale
The owners of a nursery that has operated in Wantirna South for 60 years have put their huge block of land up for sale, saying rising taxes have forced their hand. The site could become home to another high-rise.
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A landmark site on the corner of Burwood Highway and High Street Rd Wantirna South is up for sale.
Real estate agents Schroeder and Wallis are selling the 18,341sq m site at 530-532 Burwood Highway.
The block is in a mixed use zone and has multiple street frontages.
The site has been home to Banksia Nursery for about 60 years.
Michelle Kelly, whose parents own the land and nursery, said the rising cost of land tax and council rates had forced them to put the site up for sale.
“We don’t mind working but I’m not working just to keep coughing up for them and I can’t take on new staff or do renovations because (the money) just goes straight to taxation or rates,” Ms Kelly said.
She said it was a very tough decision to sell the site.
“(The decision to sell) stops my daughter taking over – the third generation (to run the business),” she said.
“When my parents were here people used to come in with their kids, now those kids are coming in with their kids and we’ve all grown together.”
Ms Kelly said the future of the nursery depended on who bought the land.
“But I don’t think anyone could afford to keep the nursery running which is very sad because we’re disappearing,” she said.
“We used to have other businesses here, let out to other families, but over time they have also shut, owners have retired and this and that, and we just can’t get people back in there.”
Ms Kelly said their land tax bill had gone up greatly each year, and was in the thousands of dollars.
She said she was hopeful the nursery could keep operating until Christmas.
“Until it’s sold we’re in limbo,’ she said.
The listing said the property came with a significant development upside with the construction of either multi-level residential or commercial buildings being a significant possibility.
It’s the latest Burwood Highway site earmarked for development, with the nearby Food Star site set to become an eight-storey apartment block.
The Allison Monkhouse Funerals site could also be turned into another Kubix-style apartment complex after it was sold to a developer.
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Knox city development director Matt Kelleher said the council had not received any planning applications for the site yet.
Mr Kelleher said the mixed use zone allowed a variety of commercial uses including shops and offices and well as residential use.
He said the site was located within the Knox Central Major Activity Centre and the preferred maximum building height for the area was 40m.