Catholic Church selling prime East Melbourne terraces. One was purchased for £6000, 76 years ago
Capital Gain
The Catholic archdiocese of Melbourne is offloading a handful of prime East Melbourne terraces opposite the St Patrick’s Cathedral precinct on Albert Street.
The portfolio – potentially worth more than $25 million – includes 348-388 Albert Street and three terraces at numbers 402, 404 and 406.
The larger of the properties on the corner of Lansdowne Street, opposite the Fitzroy Gardens, is part of Burlington Terrace and was built in 1867.
348-388 Albert Street, East MelbourneCredit:
It was previously home to the Bionics Institute and was bought in late 2020 for $12 million during a particularly hot phase of the East Melbourne property market. The Bionics Institute has moved to the nearby St Vincent’s hospital.
The 1087 sq m building is on an 892 sq m parcel of land, which includes ample parking at the rear.
The properties are offered with vacant possession, though there are some short-term leases in place.
Publisher Allen & Unwin rents in No. 406 at present, a building the archdiocese bought for £6000 in 1949.
406 Albert Street, East Melbourne, with Nos. 402-404 at the right.Credit:
The other two terraces at Nos. 402-404 were bought in 1993 during the depths of the recession – for $516,000 and $507,000, respectively.
Current values put the probable price of the three at $4 million to $5 million each.
They have about 400 sq m of space apiece and are on a combined land parcel of 1100 sq m.
Stonebridge Property Group’s Julian White, Max Warren, Dylan Kilner and Chao Zhang are handling the expressions-of-interest campaign under instructions from Charter Keck Cramer’s Jessica Crossland and Tom Byrnes.
Peregrine hovers
Property group Peregrine Projects is circling a discounted development site in Richmond that it sold to the now collapsed Falcon Capital in 2021 for nearly $17 million.
Falcon’s wings have since been clipped and the 1985 sq m site at 175 Burnley Street is now listed at $13 million-plus.
A render from 2018 of the proposed office for 175 Burnley Street.Credit:
Peregrine’s Joe Chahin has been trying to buy back the property all year, but it’s now in the grip of its mortgage holder and going through a public sales process. Peregrine originally paid $10.75 million in 2017 and obtained a permit for a nine-level office.
It sold the readymade proposition in 2021 to Falcon Capital, an investment group that has since collapsed in spectacular fashion, taking down an estimated $700 million in superannuation funds it was supposedly managing.
Falcon Capital’s company 175 Burnley Street is now in liquidation after director David Anderson was unable to “secure sufficient capital to complete the project”, according to the administrator’s report.
Records show Anderson personally guaranteed more than $12 million in loans made last year, which were secured by 175 Burnley Street, and now the mortgage holder has control of the property.
Teska Carson’s Matthew Feld and Luke Bisset have been appointed to sell the site, which may be getting a new permit for 19 three-level strata offices.
Administrators were appointed to the company in early June. Liquidation kicked in last week.
Meaty portfolio
The Meat Industry Employees’ Superannuation Fund, on the cusp of a merger with CareSuper, is selling a $50 million portfolio.
The biggest of the three on the market is an industrial property at 28 Victoria Crescent, Abbotsford, opposite the Salvos’ giant op shop near the Yarra River, which could fetch about $25 million.
The 6597 sq m building is on a 3336 sq m piece of land on the corner of Gipps Street. It’s fully leased to Munro Footwear Group, which can stay on the premises until April 2027, paying $1.76 million a year.
Records show the MIESF paid $7.9 million for the property in 2007. New developments in the area could reach as high as nine levels.
Also on the chopping block is 33 Lincoln Square South in Carlton, a four-storey office on the corner of Bouverie Street. The 2965 sq m building is in the heart of the education precinct and could fetch about $17 million.
JLL agents Tim Carr, Josh Rutman, MingXuan Li and Rob Di Natale are handling the sale, which includes a third, smaller industrial property in South Australia.
Not-for-profit
The Epilepsy Foundation is off-loading its office at 587 Canterbury Road in Surrey Hills. While the not-for-profit is offering the double-storey office with vacant possession, it has not yet determined where its workforce is heading.
Records show it paid $4 million for the two-level, 1420 sq m office in 2012 after selling its long-held Burke Road, Camberwell digs for $6.5 million.
The 1420 sq m office is on a 993 sq m piece of land on the corner of Stirling Crescent. Gorman Commercial’s Bremner and Jonathon McCormack, along with Teska Carson’s Feld and Stephen Speck, have the listing and are expecting more than $5.5 million.
The Epilepsy Foundation’s office at 587 Canterbury Road, Surrey Hills.Credit: Handout image
Owner-occupiers, lured by cheaper prices and lower interest rates, are the likeliest buyers for the empty office.
“The owner-occupier market in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs has seen a lot of sales activity over the past two years, with many businesses taking advantage of the price readjustment to purchase vacant-possession offices for long-term occupation,” Feld said.
Indeed, an owner-occupier has snapped up 425 Riversdale Road in East Hawthorn for $8.66 million in an off-market deal brokered by Gorman Commercial’s Peter Bremner.
A medical group is planning to use level one of the two-storey office building as its headquarters.
425 Riversdale Road, East Hawthorn.Credit:
The 1178 sq m office is on a 1059 sq m site with 30 car parking spaces. The 532 sq m ground floor is leased to the Seda Group, which pays $238,908 a year in rent.
Back to Richmond (next door to 175 Burnley Street), an owner-occupier has bought the former home of collapsed printing company Magnify Media.
The three-storey 1392 sq m warehouse at 110-112 Murphy Street is on 818 sq m of land and fetched $4.9 million through an expressions-of-interest campaign run by Teska Carson’s Bisset and Reece Israel.
Mortgage drama
The Alex Theatre, in the basement of St Kilda’s George Apartments, is in the hands of its mortgage holder and back on the market.
The 1485 sq m space at 135 Fitzroy Street became the George Cinema in 1994 after the George Hotel was renovated and strata-titled.
The Alex took over in 2015 and the space became a versatile theatrical space with two rooms offering 500 seats and 291 seats, respectively.
The Alex Theatre, 135 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda.Credit:
It also offers a rehearsal studio, bar, lounge and office. Suggested fresh uses include conference space or a new venue, which would be harking back to the glorious past.
Back in the 1970s and ’80s, the ballroom and bar next-door was a seedy music venue known as the Crystal Ballroom and, later, the Seaview Ballroom.
Colliers’ Lucas Soccio, Eddie Foulkes and Ryan Milivojac have the listing.
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