Malaysians check in at St Kilda Rd's Habitat HQ backpacker hostel
A Malaysian developer has snapped up the Habitat HQ backpacker hostel on Melbourne’s St Kilda Road in a $16 million-plus deal.
The property at 333 St Kilda Road was sold on behalf of the family operators of Habitat HQ.
CBRE agents Julian White, David Minty, Chao Zhang and Josh Rutman brokered the property, which is slated as a potential apartment development site.
The 2540-square-metre corner site fronts both St Kilda Road and Blanche Street and is home to a 1612 square metres, multi-level building. Passing income is about $720,000 annually.
The property has a six-level development limit and, based on potential schemes for the site, the sale price represents as much as $200,000 per prospective unit.
Mr Zhang said the transaction reflected a resurgence in Asian buyer interest in Melbourne development sites.
“Six of our past seven site sales have involved Asian developers, who are looking at macro factors such as Melbourne’s strong population growth when pursuing new acquisitions,” he said.
The property is in a tightly held area of St Kilda Road, with only four properties selling over the past two years in the stretch between Carlisle Street and St Kilda Junction.
Along its length, though, the leafy boulevard leading to the Melbourne CBD remains a busy market.
Last month a group of 25 owners of apartments and offices joined together to put their building at 545 St Kilda Road on the market.
On a landholding of 2865 square metres, the potential development site could fetch as much as $30 million.
