ABC sells its remaining Elsternwick site for $30 million

The ABC has pocketed $30 million after selling its final site in a prestigious Melbourne location.

ABC's Elsternwick site in Melbourne's bayside.

The ABC has finally sold its ­historic Elsternwick studios in Melbourne and is understood to have pocketed nearly $30m.

The prime real estate location was once home to popular programs including Countdown, Kath and Kim, Mad As Hell, the SeaChange bar and also episodes of Spicks and Specks.

The ABC failed to sell the 11,740sq m bayside property back in 2018 despite receiving several offers, and its real estate listing came with staunch opposition from the community led by music stalwart Molly Meldrum.

Despite this the property was put back on the market for sale by tender in May and it’s understood there were 10 tenders.

An ABC spokesman on Thursday confirmed the sale but would not disclose the final sale amount. “The Gordon St studios were the last remaining ABC holding in Elsternwick and were sold by public tender via agents Savills,” the spokesman said.

“The proceeds of the sale will replenish the funds used for the $176m Melbourne Accommodation Project announced in 2014.

“This is the final component of the public broadcaster’s integration of its premises at Southbank,” he added.

The Melbourne Accommodation Project included the cost of building the ABC’s headquarters at Southbank, which is now home to its Victorian television and radio operations.

The public broadcaster’s Elsternwick site was built over nine years from 1956 when television was introduced in Australia, and the ABC studios have heritage overlay and are expected to be turned into apartments.

Savills state director of sales Clinton Baxter said the Elsternwick premises were “the most ­important development site sale offering in the Melbourne market this year”.

“The size, scope, potential of the property and the location in Elsternwick – it’s right next to the Rippon Lea Estate’s beautiful heritage gardens and close to public transport and a prime retail strip,” Mr Baxter said.

In 2017, the ABC sold its Selwyn St studio, also located in ­Elsternwick, to Woolworths for almost $50m. That site included studios, a heritage-listed fire station, offices and warehouses.

Many nearby residents remain bitterly opposed to the ­development plans for the site.