Historic Newspaper House in Melbourne changes hands for $35 million

Newspaper House, a historic building in Melbourne’s Collins Street, has sold for $35 million, the latest in a run of strong commercial property deals in Melbourne's prime business district.

Singapore-listed construction company Lian Beng, which bought the property at 247 Collins Street in 2015 for about $23 million, sold it off to Malaysian conglomerate Oriental Holdings Berhad, according to The Australian Financial Review.

This latest deal was transacted on a yield of 4.2 per cent.

Built in 1884, Newspaper House was purchased by newspaper baron Sir Keith Murdoch's Herald and Weekly Times for £90,000 in 1932. 

It was given a facelift, with a new facade and a mosaic mural designed by Napier Waller in 1932.

Mervyn Napier Waller's "I'll put a girdle about the earth" features heroic human figures appear among scenes of commerce, construction and communication.

There's lots of gold, an echo of the Byzantine era, in the 1933 commission by Sir Keith Murdoch who needed more than an empire on Flinders Street.

Soon after the acquisition by the Singapore firm Lian Beng, the building was was leased out, including to Bupa Australia.

The property was put back on the market earlier this year.

"The property was incredibly well received by both the local and offshore markets," said CBRE’s Josh Rutman.

The deal was brokered by CBRE's Josh Rutman along with Knight Frank's Paul Henley.

Lian Beng was represented by Eu Ming Lim of of law firm Thomson Geer.

New buyer Oriental Holdings Berhad has other investments in the Melbourne market through its subsidiaries.

The transaction is another high-profile deal on Collins Street, including the sale of 395 Collins Street to private investor Yong Quek last year and AMP Capital's acquisition of 425 Collins Street, the AFR reported.