Tree House – a burgeoning childcare and early learning centre business with connections to the Salvo family – has paid a speculated $14.5 million for a landmark estate after which the suburb of Armadale was named.
The preschool company, established by former Europcar directors Simon and Lynda Kelly, outmuscled both commercial and prestige buyers for Armadale House in Kooyong Road – a 6026 square metre site which has for 37 years been the King David School Southwick campus.
The King David School will use sale proceeds to upgrade and redevelop other school campuses including another in the ritzy suburb.
Tree House is the brainchild of Ms Kelly, the daughter of skyscraper developer Mario Salvo who once owned the Europcar car rental giant.
In 2005, Mr Salvo financially backed construction of Tree House's first child care centre in Brighton Road, opposite the St Kilda Primary School.
Since then, Tree House has expanded to operate from three other locations: Ascot Vale, Elsternwick and Preston.
It purchased Armadale House from the King David School, which is now leasing back the property – its junior college – until the end of next year.
The property includes a 4298 square metre block at 117 Kooyong Road with the imposing 1876 two-storey mansion built by Scottish businessman James Munro. An adjoining 1728 square metre parcel is known as 21-23 Munro Street.
Under instruction from property advisory firm Charter Keck Cramer, CBRE's Mark Wizel, Josh Rutman and Paul Tzamalis marketed the site to prestige home buyers as well as community-based businesses (aged care, child care) and residential developers.
Investor Punts on Windsor
A supersized development site in Windsor – which already has a block of 40 flats developed on it – has sold for $8.82 million.
The former Masonic Court Retirement Community, on 1322 square metres at 105 Punt Road, includes a mix of studio and one-bedroom apartments, which, if renovated and leased to a serviced hotel operator, have the potential to return some $550,000 in annual rent.
The investment was also offered with a permit allowing the five-level building be reconfigured as 82 apartments.
Given the block's location near the Prahran train station and trams on High Street and St Kilda Road, the campaign was also expected to attract developers who would completely demolish and re-permit for something taller and with more flats.
Windsor residents are within walking distance to Albert Park Lake, Greville and Chapel street shops, and a former Swinburne University campus which the state government last week favoured as a local high school site.
The Punt Road parcel was marketed by Paul Castran, who five years ago famously hosted Oprah Winfrey at his Toorak house for dinner, as part of her high profile Ultimate Australian Adventure.
University of Melbourne Profits From Carlton Sale
The University of Melbourne is banking $4.7 million from the sale of a low-rise block of flats in Carlton, which listed last month with price expectations of between $3.5 million to $4 million.
The property at 419-423 Cardigan Street, on the corner of Holmwood Place, sits on 580 square metres of land.
The campaign was expected to attract developers who would replace the complex with a larger one. At present, the asset includes just three apartments – each with five bedrooms – and a very valuable open-air car park.
Woodards Glenn Bartlett and Jason Sharpe represented the university which in March paid $4.5 million for the popular Prince Alfred Hotel in Carlton, which it plans to lease after refurbishing.
Both the University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology are active property traders in the Parkville and Carlton area. In 2006, RMIT sold the nearby former Carlton & United Brewery site to Grocon.
The Laird For Sale
Another watering hole has been listed for sale this week in what is expected to be a $2 million deal.
The Laird, which agents describe as a traditional corner pub, covers a 541 square metre block at 149 Gipps Street, Abbotsford, and offers high density redevelopment potential once the current tenant's lease ends in 2018.
At present the two storey property includes a nightclub, pool room, courtyard and six upstairs accommodation rooms around a shared lounge and kitchen. Colliers International said the tenant pays annual rent of $123,000.
Liberman Interests List in Prahran
Members of Melbourne's establishment Liberman family are selling seven adjoining shops in Greville Street, Prahran.
The assets, for sale as a whole or individually, once formed part of the Leggetts Tennis and Squash Centre site, which also included a popular ballroom.
The fully leased Liberman portfolio returns annual rent of $321,805 – or an average of nearly $46,000 per shop.
Vinci Carbone's Frank Vinci and Joseph Carbone are marketing the shops, expected to sell for a total of about $6.5 million.
Up-sale in Noble Park
Up Property – the booming venture directed by dentist turned developer Adam Davidson – has disposed of a prominent Noble Park site it listed for sale last June.
The collection of assets covering 4.1 hectares across 48-130 and 146 Hanna Street is thought to have traded for about $15 million.
The blocks, which Up Property acquired separately over a few years, abut the Yarraman train station, about 25 kilometres south-east of town. Being close to public transport, schools and a hospital means the former industrial site's likely future is apartments.
The holding was acquired by established Canberra-based developer The Village Building Company following a campaign managed by Melbourne Acquisition's Dominic Gibson.
Earlier this month, Up Property paid an as yet undisclosed sum, speculated to be as high as $10 million, for the former CSIRO Materials and Fibre Engineering laboratory in Belmont, Geelong. This campaign targeted developers with the patience to convert the 6.4 hectare site at the busy corner of High and Henry streets, to residential use.
Up Property is an active developer in Geelong though many of its projects to date have involved buying small apartment complexes to renovate, strata title, then on-sell individually for profit.
In the regional area it has developed sites at Bell Post Hill, Grovedale, Newcomb, Newtown, Norlane and Whittington.
In Melbourne, Up Property owns a site in Noble Park, near the one it just sold, as well as blocks in Brunswick, Burwood, Dandenong, Hoppers Crossing, Mount Waverley, Richmond, Rosanna and South Yarra.
* Correction
A strata office suite on the ground level of 1 Albert Road, South Melbourne, was incorrectly reported as being offloaded by Ron Walker earlier this month.
Email: marcpallisco@gmail.com
Twitter: @marcpallisco
