Jetstar headquarters on the block
By Tim Boreham
In one of the chunkier city-fringe offerings this year, Jetstar’s Collingwood headquarters is up for sale with a $65 million-plus price tag after its long-time owners decided to take flight after almost three decades of ownership.
The property has been owned since 1997 by the Melbourne (and German) based Henkell Brothers Investment Management, which owns and manages a slew of Melbourne commercial properties.
The airline is the exclusive tenant of the 79 Victoria Parade site, which has a land footprint of 5240 sq m and a building size of 7000 sq m.
Jetstar’s Collingwood headquarters is up for sale with a $65 million-plus price tag.
Jetstar’s lease runs to March 2027. In 2020, Jetstar’s parent Qantas undertook a group-wide property review, but a year later said it would stay put – pending any relocation morsels thrown by state governments.
Jetstar plans to remain in place until at least the end of the lease but is considering its longer-term options.
Otherwise, the “unicorn” corner site is suited for mixed-use redevelopment, including high-density
residential. The site is around the corner from the Gurner Group’s massive, recently completed Victoria & Vine 241 apartment luxury apartment project, at 1-57 Wellington Street. Gurner Group acquired the site, covering 5100 sq m across an entire block – for around $40 million in 2016.
The Jetstar sale is being handled by Colliers’ Jozef Dickinson, Matthew Stagg and Philip Heberling, as well as CBRE’s Trent Hobart, Nathan Mufale and David Minty.
Final deed
In a sad finale, the former Glen Iris premises of Deeds Brewing is for sale after the boutique brewer closed its doors in May under the weight of a tax office debt and a rejected insurance claim over contaminated malt.
Deeds was founded in 2012 by engineering students David Milstein and the aptly-monikered Patrick Ale. After a planning struggle, Stonnington Council approved the brewing and tap room facility at 4 Paran Place, in the heart of the long-time ‘dry’ suburb.
Deeds opened its doors to the parched masses in 2015 and called last drinks in May this year. With the tenant departed, the local vendor opted to sell.
Formerly a car workshop, the “meticulously renovated” 2602 sq m property comes with a loading dock, a commercial kitchen and licence for 250 patrons.
While the beer taps are part of the deal, other brewing paraphernalia such as vats will be sold separately. The site is vaunted for a shandy of other uses “be it hospitality, commercial, industrial and/or owner occupation”.
Considering the extensive renovations, the asking price is believed to be well below the replacement value of the premises. Dawkins Occhiuto’s Walter Occhiuto and Lemon Baxter’s Chris Chartres are handling expressions of interest until August 6.
Supermarket sells
A private investor has snapped up the Woolworths outlet at 40 Cragieburn Road in the city’s north, for just over $17 million. According to Kevin Tong of handling agent Stonebridge, the sale is the first ‘full line’ metropolitan supermarket to change hands since Coles Middle Camberwell sold in November 2022.
With a gross lettable area of 3881 sq m, the store is part of a mini-complex of smaller stores and a
341-space car park totalling 12,429 sq m.
A quirk of the site is that it was originally built as a shopping centre with all the shops on title, but the developer split the shops and the supermarket into individual strata titles. “The owner will have usage rights over the car park, but can’t do anything with it unless all the shop owners agree,” Tong says.
Woolworths’ lease expires in 2026, with eight options of five years each. The shortish lease and the strata restrictions meant the store traded on a lusty yield of 5.71 per cent and a gross lettable area rate (GLAR) of $4398 per sq m. In May, Coles Bentleigh sold for $29.5 million on a sharp yield of 3.34 per cent and a bumper GLAR of $12,710.
80 Market Street, South Melbourne.
City shops sell, too
A portfolio of four CBD shops covering 736 sq m has been sold for a price that market sources suggest was around $14.9 million, on a yield of approximately 5.5 per cent.
Covering the whole ground floor of the Ibis hotel at 97-103 Elizabeth Street, the strata-titled properties house Betty’s Burgers and Zambrero, as well as Decennium Australia and Madamimadam in Equitable Place behind the building.
The vendor was a deceased estate connected to the Hansen family, founders of the ASX-listed tech company Hansen Technologies. The buyers were a mix of local and offshore interests.
The deal was done by Cushman & Wakefield’s Anthony Kirwan, George Davies, Leon Ma and Jeff Ha, with Peter Weatherby of PWRE acting as the vendor’s transaction manager.
Retail test
Further afield, two upcoming auctions will test retail conditions in two of Melbourne’s best-known
shopping strips.
In Acland Street St Kilda, a recently refurbished Commonwealth Bank branch goes under the hammer on August 8, with expectations of $4 million plus.
Having occupied the 460 sq m site for more than 50 years, the bank is on a seven-year lease with two five-year options, returning $218,545 a year.
The next day, 626 Burke Road Camberwell is up for auction, also with a $4 million-plus price guide. The 261 sq m building is tenanted by footwear brand Frankie4 and Lucky Well Tattslotto on a collective rent of $205,252 a year. Both sales are handled by Fitzroys.
Groovy building
A groovy South Melbourne edifice has listed for sale with price expectations of around $30 million. Designed by architects Billard Leece Partnership, 80 Market Street features exposed ceilings, openable windows, garden terraces and a 4.5 star NABERS energy rating.
The five-storey 3168 sq m building is tenanted by Yamaha (the musical instruments, not the motorbikes) and The Commons co-working hub. The tenants generate collective rent of just over $1.746 million a year.
The handling agents, Burgess Rawson’s Shaun Venables and Romanor Falconer and Kelly & Kelly’s Anthony and Gordon Kelly are fielding expressions of interest up to August 14.
Bvia on Bank boutique office development at 305-309 Clarendon Street.
Nearby, a video production company founded by Rich Listers Grant Petty and Douglas Clarke has leased all but the ground floor of the new Bvia on Bank boutique office development at 305-309 Clarendon Street. The deal sees Blackmagic Design take up 2174 sq m of space, at a rate thought to be between $575- 650 sq m.
The transaction was handled by Gorman Commercial.
Childcare lease of life
A $6.09 million childcare leasing deal in Tarneit in Melbourne’s western growth corridor shows that not every facility has to feature gleaming new swings and sandpits.
Vacated by the ASX-listed G8 Education, the 466-468 Sayers Road facility over 2919 sq m has an existing permit for 127 places. The leasing agents were CBRE’s Jimmy Tat, Sandro Peluso and Marcello Caspani-Muto.
“Not all centres need to be purpose built and brand new,” Peluso says, adding that operators of older buildings can enable lower fees for parents while maintaining standards.
The new operators have signed up for a 15-year term on an annual rental of $406,400.
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correction
A previous version of this article quoted the asking price of Jetstar’s headquarters at $60 million. The asking price has been amended to $65 million-plus.