$114m sale for Carlton’s largest development site in a decade
The land parcel at 185-195 Queensberry St, Carlton, and 46–78 Bouverie St has sold.
The $114m sale of a development site within Carlton’s education precinct has been hailed as a game-changer for Melbourne’s future.
Located in the former Carlton & United Breweries site, the 185–195 Queensberry St and 46–78 Bouverie St land parcel has been snapped up by Malaysian property giant SP Setia in an off-market deal.
At 6561sq m it’s believed to be the largest Carlton development site to have changed hands in a decade.
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Although there’s no current planning proposal in place for the address, it’s expected that SP Setia will look to build a mixed-use development comprising retail, residential and purpose-built student accommodation.
It’s the latest in a line of massive sales within inner Melbourne including Cbus Property buying a 1.04ha site in River St, Richmond, for about $55m through the commercial property agency LAWD earlier this month.
In June, a Bourke St six-level complex with tenants such as JB Hi-Fi and Victoria Police fetched $80.1m in a campaign headed by Cushman & Wakefield and JLL.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Leon Ma, Oliver Hay and Daniel Wolman brokered the Carlton deal.
Mr Hay said that SP Setia’s acquisition reflected a broader trend of renewed offshore capital flowing into the Australian property market, particularly in education-linked areas.
“As the last development opportunity of this scale in Carlton, the site’s future transformation will likely reshape the precinct’s urban fabric – bringing new life to a pocket of the city already rich in culture and connectivity,” Mr Hay said.
The vacant land parcel is part of the former Carlton & United Breweries site, where brewery operations ended in the 1980s.
Mr Ma said the vacant site had attracted strong interest from both local and international developers.
He added that although it was unknown how tall any future development could be, the nearby Swanston Central stands at 71 storeys.
But Mr Ma noted that Victoria’s planning laws had changed significantly since the $350m tower’s now-completed construction began in 2016.
SP Setia’s other projects include La Trobe St’s Sapphire by the Gardens development incorporating luxury residences and a five-star hotel.
Billionaire businessman Adrian Portelli bought a penthouse in the residential tower for $39m, in 2023.
SP Setia’s is also behind the UNO apartments in A’Beckett St and the $225m Fulton Lane Apartments and Fulton Lane Tower in Melbourne, built upon a car park formerly owned by retail tycoon Solomon Lew.
The Sapphire by The Gardens towers in La Trobe St, Melbourne, is another of SP Setia’s projects.
Managing director of the independent commercial property firm Wizel Property Group, Mark Wizel, sold the Carlton site to a previous owner for about $68m in 2014.
At the time, he marketed the “Swanston Super Site” with a logo similar to the “S” symbol on Superman’s uniform.
Mr Wizel said the site’s latest sale was likely the largest inner Melbourne development site to have been sold since 2020.
“It bodes really well as a strong sign of continued future development in Melbourne’s CBD and the immediate CBD fringe,” Mr Wizel said.
Managing director of the independent commercial property firm Wizel Property Group, Mark Wizel. Picture: Supplied.
He noted that increasing numbers of educational, build-to-rent and student accommodation projects were moving the edges of Melbourne’s central business district as homelessness and crime rises in the CBD itself.
Mr Wizel said that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing would hopefully open up more business between the two nations, in turn supporting local industry and boosting housing supply in Melbourne.
“I think you’ll find a lot of Asian capital will make moves and re-set the industry again for the next decade which we really need,” Mr Wizel said.
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