Victoria Commercial Property News

THE development potential of sites in three suburbs will be put to the test in separate campaigns.

Business groups and developers say affordability will decline and commercial rents will rise in Victoria as a result of the $2. 4 billion in new property taxes announced in last week’s state budget. Business leaders have dismissed treasurer Tim Pallas’s contention that the budget reflects “a fair and progressive tax system that makes sure everyone pays their fair share to support Victoria’s economic recovery.”

The latest circuit-breaker will set return-to-work back much longer than a week and could drive more businesses to the ‘burbs.

A former Geelong bank building dubbed a ripper development opportunity it set to get a new lease on life after being traded.

A Bendigo building tenanted by Australia Post, sold for $6.375 million this week in a competitive auction that saw a Melbourne investor win-out against a local bidder. Recent commercial sales in the City of Bendigo have reflected the interest of interstate investors in Victoria’s fourth largest city.

Hospitality players are circling the only venue atop Arthurs Seat — “with the most incredible views of anywhere along the entire Mornington Peninsula”.

It’s rare to see a building hit the market for the first time in 119 years, and particularly one that has been in the same family for four generations. But that’s the case with the history-laden Ballarat property.

Sydney “bar tsar” Justin Hemmes has broken his silence on why he has inexplicably ventured south, buying his first property outside of NSW with the purchase of Melbourne’s historic Tomasetti House in a $40m-plus deal. Mr Hemmes’s Merivale Group purchased the landmark Flinders Lane property from the Millett family, in what he said was the start of a national expansion for the company.

Potential investors could play their part in growing the number of beds in Geelong’s accommodation sector with a landmark Corio hotel.