Deals: Catholic Church collects $9.5m for East Melbourne building

Strong bidding for an East Melbourne building owned by the Catholic Church has pushed its auction price to $9.53 million – more than 20% above reserve.

The building at 96 Wellington Parade, which is home to the Catholic Development Fund, attracted bids from six parties at auction, before falling to a local investor.

The five-level office includes 1127sqm of net lettable area on a 512sqm site, and lies opposite the Melbourne Cricket Ground and just 1km from the CBD.

The Catholic Church sold this East Melbourne building.

Savills’ Nick Peden, Clinton Baxter and Jesse Radisich conducted the auction campaign, with Peden saying the property received considerable interest from established commercial property buyers.

“The chance to own such a blue chip property, not surprisingly, attracted a lot of interest from the investment community, including some of Melbourne’s most prominent property owners, along with interstate and offshore interest, including developers and occupiers,’’ Peden says.

“The property has so many positive attributes that it was always going to be well received by the market, as just about any asset in East Melbourne is, but ultimately it was a better than expected result driven by very strong competition from a gathering of Melbourne’s most astute buyers.”

Sydney: Sweet deal for biscuit factory

The home of Italian biscuit manufacturer Aurora Biscuits has sold for $2.633 million.

A private investor grabbed the 500sqm site and building on Shepherd St in Marrickville, which had been Aurora’s home for the last 50 years.

The biscuit company’s owner Joe Gullotto wound up the business after being unable to find a buyer to take it over.

The Aurora Biscuits factory in Marrickville has been sold.

The factory and warehouse, spread over two levels just 6km from Sydney’s CBD, attracted offers from eight buyers during a campaign run by Luke Smith from Raine & Horne Commercial South Sydney/Marrickville.

“The factory … is approximately 850sqm over two levels and is zoned ‘B7 Business Park’, making it ideal for a wide range of reconfigurations or developments,” Smith says.

“The sales result indicates yet again that the inner west industrial market is particularly strong with demand significantly outstripping demand.”

Victoria: Papers signed for Ballarat Officeworks

A Sydney-based private investor has offloaded an Officeworks outlet in Victorian regional hub Ballarat for $7.75 million.

A syndicate of Melbourne investors swooped on the Creswick Rd property, which they bought on a yield of 5.19% two weeks before the end of an expressions of interest campaign.

The 2117sqm store sits on a 4117sqm landholding and is leased to Officeworks on a new eight-year lease returning $402,500 per annum.

Melbourne-based investors have bought an Officeworks site in Ballarat.

CBRE’s Justin Dowers, who negotiated the deal with colleagues Mark Wizel and Joseph Du Rieu, says the sale is a vote of confidence in the market.

“We were overwhelmed with the response from the buyer market for the property and the purchaser ultimately presented an attractive offer to ensure they would secure the investment,” Dowers says.

“Achieving an initial yield of 5.19% for an older asset is a clear statement of the strength in the current buyer market seeking secure retail investment properties with potential for growth in income.”

Sydney: Flower grower puts down roots in Eastern Creek

Flower growing specialists Flower Flow will set up their Asia Pacific headquarters in Sydney’s west after signing a new five-year lease at Eastern Creek.

The warehouse at 78 Peter Brock Drive, owned by the Jowett Family superannuation fund, will house the company’s floral import clearance and production facilities.

Flower Flow has leased this warehouse in Eastern Creek.

CBRE’s John Micallef, John Karlovasitis and Rajal Chaudhary negotiated the lease for an annual rental of $125 per square metre.

Micallef says the property’s location in the heart of Eastern Creek’s commercial centre was a key plank in the deal.

“The property’s central location in Eastern Creek helped secure Flower Flow to the site, with it offering close proximity to distribution centres for the major supermarkets,” he says.

Melbourne: Sofia’s restaurant site on the menu

A restaurant soon to be vacated by Sofia’s Italian restaurant in upmarket Balwyn is set to whet investor or owner occupier appetites.

The restaurant in the popular Whitehorse Rd shopping strip will be sold at auction on July 8, but the restaurant’s days appear numbered, with the property to be offered with vacant possession.

The 587sqm building has a licence for 180 patrons, as well as a liquor licence, and is being marketed by Colliers International’s Jeremy Gruzewski and Jackie Hanna.

Sofia’s restaurant in Balwyn is to be auctioned on July 8.

Gruzewski says the two-level, double-fronted property 11km east of Melbourne’s CBD could be run as either a restaurant or an entertainment venue.

“This significant and imposing freehold property in the heart of the Balwyn Shopping Centre is being sold with vacant possession in a unique opportunity for an owner occupier, particularly a restauranteur, or an investor to stamp their mark on an iconic strip,” Gruzewski says.

Melbourne: Storage facility does the business

A Storage King facility and the self-storage business it houses are both for sale in inner-suburban Northcote.

The 5100sqm building at 150 Arthurton Rd will be sold via expressions of interest, which close on July 15.

Colliers International’s Jeremy Gruzewski and Hamish Burgess have been appointed to sell the property, which Gruzewski says can continue to operate as a storage business but is also prime for redevelopment.

A Storage King business is on the market in Northcote.

“The property offers an immediate secure income stream, while also offering substantial development potential that could be unlocked at any stage in the future,” he says.

“It is a prominent and significant landholding in a popular, recently re-zoned inner city suburb which offers great potential but also the security of producing a steady operating income each year.”

“This would allow a purchaser the benefit of taking the time to decide what they want to do with the property in the long term, with the security of a steady income stream in the meantime.”