Travel House, the Albert Park-facing local headquarters of the Contiki and Trafalgar tour group, has been sold to a Melbourne investor for about $9.5 million.
The office at 210 Albert Road, which faces the exciting turns six and seven of the Formula 1 track, is understood to have attracted strong interest and 12 bids from local and offshore parties.
CBRE agents Nathan Mufale, Scott Hawthorne, Jing Jun Heng and David Minty negotiated the deal but declined to comment. After all, the global real estate agency has plenty more offices in prized locations to sell for the family that established The Travel Corporation (TTC) in 1920.
Travel House, at 210 Albert Road, overlooks the grand prix circuit at Albert Park.
TTC was acquired last year by US private equity firm Apollo and the family is offloading its privately held real estate. The 1700-square metre, six-level building is on 700 square metres of land. The ground floor and level two were offered with vacant possession following the departure of TTC.
Bourke Hill
A first-time investor from Singapore has beaten five other parties to pay $5.3 million for 98 Bourke Street, near the corner of Exhibition Street.
The three-storey 226-square-metre building is leased to ex-Nobu chef Doowon Lee’s SOT Dining. The deal metrics indicate a tight yield of 3.82 per cent, a land price of $44,915 a square metre and a building rate of $23,451 a square metre.
98 Bourke Street fetched $5.3 million.
Records show it last traded in 1985 for $910,000. CBRE agents Alex Brierley, Nathan Mufale and Jing Jun Heng negotiated the transaction.
Just one block down the hill, buyer sentiment is hard-headed. Three bidders, among a crowd of 60, made a handful of offers for 189-191 Bourke Street, but it passed in at $6.05 million.
The three-storey 525-square-metre building is on 198 square metres of land near the Russell Street corner.
It is bigger than its neighbour up the road but since COVID, this block has been plagued by vacancies and is far from the high-end eateries closer to parliament. However, Hungry Jacks is reopening its refurbished outlet across the road next year and the KFC was doing a roaring trade during the lunchtime auction.
The top floor of the building is empty, while its ground floor restaurant is leased to Nepalese dumpling house Momo and the second floor is rented to long-time tenant Anda Thai Massage. Total rent is $282,155 a year. Records show the vendor paid a whopping $13 million in 2018.
Cushman & Wakefield agents Oliver Hay, Anthony Kirwan, Leon Ma and Daniel Wolman handled the campaign, which is not over yet.
Yale locks it in
Property developer Yale Investment Group, the new owner of the Chapel Lane Huts site in South Yarra, is offloading its CBD office space.
The company, owned by Andrew and Charlie Sirianni, is planning a new office project for the 817-square-metre site at 430-436 Chapel Street. Yale paid $9 million for the site, well short of its last $14.2 million transaction.
Yale is now selling its headquarters on level 13 of 50 Market Street, opposite Cbus Property’s Collins Arch tower.
50 Market Street, Melbourne.Credit: Supplied
The company spent $2 million on a fresh fit-out of the 550-square-metre floor in 2023 – almost as much as the $2.8 million they paid for the office in 2015. Cushman & Wakefield’s Anthony Kirwan and George Davies have the listing and expect about $5.5 million.
Perusing the past ownership records of the 15-level building reveals Yale has sold enough space in the past year to almost pay for their new South Yarra site.
A couple of Yale subsidiary companies have sold the ground floor cafe, part of level two, and levels seven, 14 and 15 for a total $8.59 million.
Investor’s gym bid works out
An investor based in Shandong has splashed out $24.65 million on the Next Gen gym in Doncaster. Records show Yi Qin’s Charley Tasmania has put a caveat over the property, which was developed by Mirvac as part of the Tullamore housing estate on the old Eastern Golf Course.
NextGen paid $8.58 million for the property at 21 Members Drive in 2018.
The NextGen gym on the Tullamore estate in Doncaster.
The sale and leaseback deal reflected a yield of 6.49 per cent. NextGen has a lease on the purpose-built club until 2040, with options until 2060.
CBRE’s Jamie Hess, Sam Guest and Jing Jun Heng managed the campaign, which attracted 12 offers.
Chinese-capital backed buyers have been increasingly active in the Melbourne market, especially in the suburban centres. Earlier this year, a Chinese buyer bought a new Aldi store from Pace Development Group for a price believed to be just under $9 million.
The supermarket, at 3-11 Mitchell Street, is at the base of a new block of apartments at Jackson Court in East Doncaster.
JLL’s Tom Noonan and MingXuan Li did that deal. Along with Romanor Falconer, they are now selling the former Barbarino’s site at 546 Doncaster Road. Barbarino’s Holdings paid $1 million for the 4081-square-metre site in 1986. It has been the Plume Chinese Restaurant for the past 20 years.
Agents were unwilling to comment on the likely sale price, but industry sources suggested it could fetch about $10 million.
Sinopec’s first local servo
In other Chinese investment-related news, Sinopec, the Chinese government-backed gas and energy behemoth, has just opened its first petrol station in Australia.
The servo, developed by Jasbe in 2021, is at 325 Nepean Highway, Frankston. Sinopec has a new 10-year lease with three five-year options.
The servo is on a 2948-square-metre piece of land and returns $373,000 a year in rent. Cushman & Wakefield’s George Davies, Raphael Favas, Oliver Hay and Leon Ma have the listing and are expecting more than $6.5 million.
Grand Theatre back on the market
One of Melbourne’s earliest suburban picture palaces, the Grand Theatre, at 8 Paisley Street, Footscray, is back on the market after nearly 30 years.
It opened in 1911 and presented movies until 1987, when it became the Fiesta bingo hall. It currently provides storage for the street level shops.
The Grand Theatre at 8-10 Paisley Street, Footscray.
The theatre’s art nouveau frontage can be seen through the rusting metal facade that was erected some time during the 1960s.
Savills agents Julian Heatherich and Beau Bakhtani have the listing, along with two of the ground floor shops at 10A and 10C. They are expected to fetch more than $1.1 million and $680,000 respectively, and about $2 million for the theatre.
It last changed hands in 1996 for $275,000. The vendor, H.K. Enterprise, is in administration, owing five creditors, primarily the ANZ Bank, more than $1.56 million.
“Footscray is going through a period of transformation, and sites like this – rich in history, yet ready for renewal – are incredibly rare,” Bakhtani said.
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