Marshall White Armadale HQ goes on the market

Across the road, on the corner of Huntingtower Street, is the site recently purchased by Central Equity directors Dennis Wilson and Darren Blankfield.

Marshall White opened for business in the office in 2009 after a company owned by the agency’s directors, ASJJJ, bought it in 2007 for $3.26 million.

Gorman Allard Shelton agents Jonathon McCormack and Steve Gorman are handling the deal. The property is expected to fetch about $7 million. The agents pay about $485,000 annually in rent.

Marshall White sales director Jack Bongiorno, who owns the office with fellow directors James Connell and Justin Long, said it was time to move on.

Bongiorno will be hoping for a better run on the final day of the Melbourne spring racing carnival at Flemington today when his horse, Lunar Flare, gets another run after being scratched from the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.

Another of his horses, Knight’s Order, was ninth in the Cup after briefly leading the pack.

In other agency news, the owners of Jellis Craig’s Richmond office have put their 57-59 Bridge Road property to market. The 370 sq m building is on a 447 sq m site on the corner of Normanby Place, in front of the huge Epworth Hospital complex.

Jellis Craig occupies three of the four shops in the building and have recently renewed the lease to 2028.

Fitzroys agent Chris Kombi, Chris James and Ben Liu are running the campaign. The property is expected to fetch more than $4 million.

Red Cross HQ

The Australian Red Cross is selling its North Melbourne headquarters, as property demand for the city fringe suburb bubbles over.

The ARC’s head office is on a large 6526 square metre landholding at 23-47 Villiers Street, across the road from the Lort Smith Animal Hospital, in the Parkville bio-medical precinct.

ARC purchased the property from NCR Australia – the multi-national automatic teller machine provider and operator – for $7.1 million in 2001. Two decades later, it is expected to fetch about $60 million.

The island site is bordered by Harcourt, Mary and Little George streets and comes with mixed-use zoning that provides for a wide range of potential uses, including apartments, medical and education uses – not forgetting the current market darling “build-to-rent”.

JLL agents Josh Rutman, Jesse Radisich, Noral Wild and MingXuan Li are handling the campaign, with Charter Keck Cramer’s Tom Byrnes and Patrick McNulty acting as transaction advisor.

Also in the north

Recent deals in North Melbourne include biotech-based BCR Capital’s purchase of Nick Theodossi’s old warehouse at 189-203 Arden Street, next to the new Arden Station, where it is planning a $600 million mixed-use project.

That 5463 sq m parcel of land is on the western side of a larger lot put on the market for $135 million in 2019. It was initially snapped up by the now collapsed Grollo-owned Grocon and Singaporean sovereign wealth group GIC, but the deal never eventuated.

More recently, Charter Hall had it earmarked for a new Australia Post headquarters but 480 Swan Street, Richmond won the day.

Market values for the area, which is a build-to-rent hotbed, could put the price at about $40 million. US giant Hines recently paid $30 million for a 3068 sq m holding nearby at 36-58 Macaulay Road.

Down the West Melbourne end of the precinct, near North Melbourne railway station, there is a much cheaper option on the market at 513-521 Victoria Street.

The 447 sq m warehouse last changed hands in 2017 for $3.67 million, and is expected to sell in the low-to-medium $4 million range. It has a permit for 26 apartments. Gross Waddell ICR’s Julian Materia and Andrew Waddell have the listing.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Citylink, the Kensington warehouse offloaded by glass-maker Mark Douglass fetched $3.4 million, or a land rate of $5556 a sq m.

The property was purchased by a high-net-worth family represented by buyer’s advocate Guy Angwin.

One of the under-bidders at the auction was the Dipetta family, who operate Spotwood venue, Grazeland.

The auction was handled by Stonebridge agents Max Warren, Dylan Kilner and Chao Zhang.

Meditate on this

Brunswick Street is set to lose its quiet steady heart, with the Brahma Kumaris Meditation Centre hitting the market.

The three-storey Victorian building at 256 Brunswick Street, just a few doors from the Black Cat Café, has been owned by the global meditation group since 1992.

It has been a good earner for Brahma Kumaris, which could be looking at a $3.5 million-plus result. The building is being offered with a short-term lease back. It covers 428 sq m over the three floors and includes a rooftop level with sweeping views of the Carlton Gardens and the CBD.

CBRE agents Alex Brierley, Nathan Mufale, Sam O’Connell and Jing Jun Heng have the listing.

Brahma Kumaris has two other centres in Melbourne, and it is not the end of serious meditation in Fitzroy. The Siddha Yoga Ashram still occupies 202 Gore Street.

Records show the ashram bought the grand Victorian doctor’s residence in 1978 for just $105,000.

South Melbourne

South Melbourne’s city fringe office precinct is luring a new wave of owner-occupiers.

Records show Niketan Walia, boss of private education operator Durban International College, has put a caveat on 16-20 Thistlethwaite Street, which sold recently for $6 million. The three-storey building sold at a strong land rate of $14,388 a sq m.

The vendor was One Funds Management, which had picked it up from Ethical Property, paying $5.8 million in 2018. The same vendor is selling Donkey Wheel House in the CBD.

Colliers agent Alexander Leggo also reported the sale of 10-12 York Street for $3.9 million and 30-32 Tope Street for $2.55 million. Both properties are set for upgrades into office space.

Other deals in the precinct include the St Ali coffee roasters headquarters at 4 Yarra Street, which sold for $2.04 million.