Church sells Melbourne CBD office for $40 million
The Uniting Church has sold its Melbourne CBD office building in a $40.5 million deal with prolific developer Jeff Xu’s Golden Age Group.
The eight-level office block with ground-floor retail, on the corner of Little Collins Street and Coromandel Place, has been occupied by the Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania since it was built in 1967.
The church put the building up for sale soon after gaining a planning permit to convert it to a 27-storey hotel in a deal with developer Jonathan Hallinan’s BPM.
The transaction was negotiated by CBRE’s Mark Wizel, Julian White, Lewis Tong and Nathan Mufale, and Colliers International’s Daniel Wolman, Guy Wells and Oliver Hay.
The mid-height tower at 130 Little Collins Street, called the Uniting Church Centre, was owned by the church’s property trust and includes offices, an auditorium, meeting rooms and a chapel.
Neither the church nor Mr Xu would discuss details of the transaction.
The church will relocate its office to Charter Hall’s new Wesley Place precinct in Lonsdale Street once that development is complete in 2020.
“The church is satisfied with the price secured for 130 Little Collins Street, which attracted a competitive field of potential buyers,” a spokesman said.
The 184-room hotel approved in the planning permit was designed by Elenberg Fraser architect.
