Eye-watering $150m asking price for Melbourne’s St Collins Lane shopping centre
Melbourne’s CBD is headed to a potentially unprecedented shopping spree with two big name retail hubs for sale at the same time.
Commercial real estate group CBRE confirmed they will later this month begin marketing luxury brand mecca St Collins Lane for sale.
The firm’s Simon Rooney said he expected the 260 Collins St property would sell in excess of an eye-watering $150 million.
Rooney says he can’t recall a time when two such properties were on the market.
The luxury brand shopping centre was launched by JP Morgan in 2016.
“These things, CBD core retail, are extremely tightly held,” Rooney says.
A global mix of institutional investors, high-net-worth individuals and wealthy syndicates are expected to pursue St Collins Lane.
Rooney says while British department store Debenhams recently departed from the shopping centre’s lower-ground floor, it is unlikely a retail-apocalypse that has seen a number of big brands including Jeanswest and Bardot go into administration this year will affect buyers’ appetites.
The mall is in a significantly better position than it was shortly after opening in mid-2016, when its investment group owners JP Morgan were left with multiple vacancies.
It is one of the newest shopping complexes in Melbourne’s CBD.
“It has definitely turned a corner and is starting to hit its straps, and the next party is perfectly placed to add significant value,” Rooney says.
“It will get very competitive and could be one of the most competitive this year.”
Expressions of interest for St Collins Lane are expected to be taken from mid March to late April.
This article from The Herald Sun originally appeared as “St Collins Lane shopping centre for sale with huge asking price”.
