Gardening company Yates spends $3.2 million in La Trobe Valley
Garden product manufacturing and distributing group Yates Garden Products has spent $3.2 million on an office and warehouse property in Morwell, in Victoria’s south-east.
The former state electricity commission property at lot 3C Rail Road has 14,000 square metres of buildings including a 450-square-metre office, a 6000-square-metre mill building and a main warehouse of 7,550 square metres.
The 3.6-hectare property also includes cranes and fire sprinklers in the buildings as well as extensive hardstand yards and three road frontages.
The vacant possession sale was negotiated by Savills Australia senior industrial executive Keith Kooloos.
The buildings were originally built as maintenance workshops and stores depot for the State Electricity Commission of Victoria.
The commission was responsible for developing coal power in the area, which is a major coal mining and fossil-fuel power generation hub for Victoria.
The LaTrobe Valley city has a long history of coal mining and energy production with the construction of Yallourn open-cut coal mine in the 1920s.
Koolos says Yates required a larger property to cater for recent growth in the business.
Kooloos says there was strong interest in the property, with several buyers competing.
“Two other, vacant sites, were also sold and now, due to the strong local interest and demand, Savills is offering the remaining five hardstand lots for auction on November 1,” Koolos says.
Owner-occupier McCormack Demby Timber was selling the property, which it had run as a saw mill until about a year ago.
The roots of Yates date back to 1883 when Englishman Arthur Yates started a gardening business in Auckland.
Yates celebrated it’s 125th anniversary this year.