‘Meriton of Melbourne' directors spend $30m on suburban fashion shops
Family offices associated with the directors of Melbourne development giant Central Equity have spent more than $30 million buying up a row of high-end fashion outlets on High Street, Armadale – but have no plans yet to build apartments above them.
Property records show companies, whose directors include Central Equity co-founder Dennis Wilson and director Darren Blankfield, have contracted to purchase 1087-1095 High Street, a 1174 sq m corner block with six ground-floor shops and offices above.
They also purchased the neighbouring two-level building at 1075 High Street, which occupies a smaller 856 sq m block and is leased to luxury women’s clothing designer Perri Cutten.
Tenants of the larger block include fashion designer Bianca Spender, the daughter of the late designer Carla Zampatti, and upmarket retailers Koko Lane and Purebaby.
The Armadale properties were acquired by a number of family offices associated with Mr Wilson, his Central Equity co-founder Eddie Kutner and other directors of the developer.
Known as the “Meriton of Melbourne”, Central Equity is a prolific developer of high-rise apartment buildings in the CBD and on the city fringe, as well as greenfield housing estates.
Full-year accounts published in November, show Central Equity made profits before income tax of $18.5 million off revenue of $87 million for the 12 months to June 30, 2022.
Both were down on the prior year – revenue of $231 million and profit of $83.4 million – due to the timing of settlements and fewer project starts because of surging construction costs.
Luxury apartments
It is understood there are no plans at this stage to activate an existing permit at 1087-1095 High Street Armadale, which allows for a five-level project consisting of 10 luxury apartments in a design by architects Fender Katsalidis.
Both acquisitions were struck on yields below 3 per cent – standard for High Street, Armadale, which had a vacancy rate last year of 5.1 per cent, down from 9.1 per cent in 2021, according to the November 2022 Walk the Strip survey by Fitzroys.
Located in Melbourne’s affluent eastern suburbs, High Street, Armadale is known for its designer clothing outlets, antique stores, cafes and art galleries.
Just over a year ago, Tony Gandel – the son of billionaire shopping centre owner John Gandel – paid $6.15 million for the Armadale Antique Centre at 1147-1151 High Street, with the deal struck on a 2.7 per cent yield, while developers including Bensons Property Group have completed apartment projects above shops.
A spokesman for Central Equity declined to comment as did JLL’s Josh Rutman, Jesse Radisich, Nick Peden and MingXuan Li, who handled the sale of both 1075 High Street and 1087-1095 High Street.
Property records show the vendor of 1087-1095 High Street was well-known property developer and investor Michael Gannon and his wife Helen. The couple have spent the past 35 years amalgamating the site.
Mr Gannon is a director of branded apparel retailer Cremorne Group and long-term business partners of designer Perri Cutten. The Gannons also backed the float of mall landlord Home Consortium in 2019.
The vendor of 1075 High Street, Armadale was investor Sue Angelatos.
