Outside the ABC TV's Selywn Street property, which has been used as offices and warehousing. Photo: Supplied

ABC TV studios set to fetch 'at least $25 million' - old fire station included

Jack Needham|Apr 17, 2019

It’s been a crucial part of the ABC TV’s operations for more than 20 years, but the national broadcaster’s Selwyn Street production site in Elsternwick, Melbourne, is now up for sale – historic fire station included.

Purchased in 1993 the property has housed a number of television production units including drama, entertainment, sports and arts and has long been touted for closure, but is now officially on the market.

The Former Elsternwick Fire Station, which is heritage listed, forms part of the sale. Photo: Teagan Glenane

The site is likely to be purchased by a developer and turned into residential apartments with ground floor retail, said Savills’ state director Clinton Baxter.

Mr Baxter described the studios as “the best site on the market this year”, with the mixed use zoning allowing for a variety of uses including commercial, residential, retail and aged care projects.

Only one building on the 6155-square-metre site was subject to a heritage listing – the original Elsternwick Fire Station, which would be ideal for a restaurant conversion, he said.

An ABC submission to the Federal Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works said that the fire station had been used for “paper file storage” under the ABC’s occupation.

Staff at the Selwyn Street studios, and at the nearby Gordon Street studios, also in Elsternwick, are set to be relocated to a new facility at the ABC’s Southbank office from the middle of next year, with operations to continue until the buildings are decommissioned.

An ABC spokesman, Nick Leys, said that details of the relocation plan had been made public over the past two years, with the listing of the site a formality.

The site was used as offices and warehouse facilities for different production units, although it had been used occasionally to film scenes from popular shows, he said.

The sale follows the ABC’s redevelopment of its Southbank site, which involved building a studio large enough to incorporate the operations currently taking place at Selwyn Street and the iconic Gordon Street studios, 300 metres away – which hosted shows such as Countdown and Spicks and Specks.

Mr Leys could not give a timeline for the sale of the Gordon Street Studios, which is also set to be decommissioned next year.

Mr Baxter is expecting a “deluge of interest” in the Selwyn Street site when the campaign is launched on Wednesday, with a number of parties having already registered their interest.

He was expecting a price of “at least $25 million” for the site, which is located 100 metres from Elsternwick station and near to the Glen Huntly Road shopping precinct.

Current facilities on the site include a two level office, several warehouses and a two-level carpark.