Property fund seeking $30 million for Melbourne Country Road headquarters
The Richmond headquarters of Australian fashion label Country Road has been listed for sale with a price tag of about $30 million.
The two- and three-storey office complex known as “Building 3” is located at 658 Church Street within the Richmond Corporate Park and was once the former Richmond Power Station, constructed in 1891.
The building is being sold by the Australian Property Growth Fund (APGF), which values it at $29.75 million. Members of the board of APGF include managing director Geoffrey McMahon, a 22-year property industry veteran and non-executive chairman Neil Summerson, current chairman of the Bank of Queensland and former managing partner of Ernst & Young (Queensland).
It was acquired by APFG in 2003 for $23.2 million and is the only asset in its Property Syndicate No. 4.
In the mid-1990s it was extensively refurbished by Metier 3 Architects specifically for Country Road and now features an office space arranged over three interconnected buildings with lofted ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows and creative open plan fit-outs.
It measures 8,205 square metres (70% of which is tenanted by Country Road until 2014) and sits on more than one hectare (10,276 square metres) of land on an elevated site adjacent to the Monash Freeway and overlooking the Yarra River.
It includes 228 car spaces allocated between the basement and on-grade areas.
The building currently returns net rent of around $2.71 million per annum.
Recent sales in the corporate car park include lot 2, measuring around 13,500 square metres, which sold for $42 million in April last year and lot 1, measuring 7,064 square metres, which sold to a private investor/developer consortium headed by Bill Boerkamp for $16.75 million in November 2009.
The fully tenanted building is being marketed by Colliers International directors Peter Bremner and Rob Joyes in conjunction with agents Andrew Dawkins and Walter Occhiuto, of Dawkins Occhiuto.
In addition to Country Road, the other tenants are advertising agency Clemenger Harvie Edge and marketing group Mood Media, while other companies based in the office park include the Just Group, Mattel, Pacific Brands and Hardie Grant.
Bremner says the office building represented an outstanding opportunity for high net worth private investors, syndicators, fund managers or future owner-occupiers.
“This property offers the chance for low-risk investment, with the building being 100% leased to long-standing established tenants,” he says.
Andrew Dawkins says the “solid fundamentals of the Richmond market” should appeal to buyers.
“Richmond has a tight vacancy rate of less than 5% and is home to many companies involved in the fashion, marketing, advertising and publishing industries,” he says.
The property is for sale by expressions of interest closing Thursday March 15, 2012 at 4pm.