Melbourne, 8 April 2015 – A mainland Chinese group has secured a prominent development site at Blackburn for $4.6 million.
CBRE’s Victorian Development Sites team negotiated the unconditional sale of 55-65 Railway Road, Blackburn shortly after the conclusion of an Expressions of Interest campaign.
The property, which has a permit for 30 apartments and eight shops, is located within 100 metres of Blackburn Railway Station.
The CBRE selling agents Julian White, Ed Wright and Mark Wizel said the campaign had generated a significant amount of enquiry and fierce buyer competition.
“Suburban land holdings with permits, which are close to public transport, are in hot demand at the moment,” Mr White said.
“Strong interest was received from offshore buyers as well as a number of local groups, keen to secure projects that can be delivered quickly to the market to tap into the current owner occupier demand for end apartment product.”
The deal represents the seventh suburban Melbourne development site sale to be completed by CBRE since early March 2015 and brings the tally of sales to approximately $93,000,000. The buyer activity has predominantly involved mainland Chinese groups as per the below.
Property
|
Price
|
Buyer Origin
|
360 New Street, Brighton
|
$9,300,000
|
Mainland Chinese
|
160 Whitehorse Road, Blackburn
|
$18,000,000
|
Mainland Chinese
|
757 Station Street, Box Hill
|
$4,600,000
|
Mainland Chinese
|
2 Wests, Road, Maribyrnong
|
$9,250,000
|
Mainland Chinese
|
12-14 Sheffield Street, Preston
|
$1,705,000
|
Local Developer
|
40 Hall Street, Moonee Ponds
|
$45,000,000
|
Local Developer
|
55-65 Railway Road, Blackburn
|
$4,600,000
|
Mainland Chinese
|
Total
|
$92,455,000
|
|
However, MrWizel said both local and offshore developers were targeting the metropolitan residential development site market.
“Blackburn has a median house price of nearly $1,000,000. Smart developers, both based locally and offshore, are recognising this gap between house and apartment prices in locations such as Blackburn, which not traditionally associated with medium to high density residential apartment developments. This is increasing the demand for apartment projects in these locations,” Mr Wizel said.
The latest Blackburn sale also highlighted the continued trend for Chinese developers to broaden their focus from the Melbourne CBD to consider mixed use development projects that would appeal to a broad range of investors and owner occupiers, Mr Wizel said.
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About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (in terms of 2014 revenue). The Company has more than 52,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate owners, investors and occupiers through more than 370 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers strategic advice and execution for property sales and leasing; corporate services; property, facilities and project management; mortgage banking; appraisal and valuation; development services; investment management; and research and consulting. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
