Vacant retail property across Melbourne being snapped up
Cashed up investors and owner occupiers continue to snap up vacant retail property across Melbourne.
Fitzroys agents Terence Yeh and Chris Kombi have sold the two-level 85 Puckle Street building in Moonee Ponds for $2.285 million under the hammer.
A Chinese investor won the auction after 118 bids were submitted from multiple parties.
The two storey building of 170sqm is within an Activity Centre Zone and encompasses a shop on the ground floor and a first floor apartment.
Yeh said the campaign generated enquiry from local and offshore investors and owner occupiers, driven by the strong pipeline of residential projects that is reshaping the well- connected inner north-west suburb that boasts a number of national tenants.
“There are more than 1,500 apartments within the Moonee Ponds Activity Centre in various stages of planning and development, generating confidence among investors and businesses for the retail strip’s long-term viability,” he said.
These include the Mason Square development on the former Moonee Ponds market site of 1.34 hectares, while the future $2 billion overhaul of the nearby Moonee Valley Racecourse will include multiple residential and commercial buildings, adding a further 2,000 dwellings.
Kombi said that despite banks having a resistance to lending against vacant properties, there has been strong interest through sales campaigns and competitive bidding at recent auctions.
“Astute investors and owner occupiers will continue to be active in this space, as the low interest rate environment is expected to remain for some time.
“Investors still sitting on cash are turning their eye towards vacant retail property across Melbourne, and have been joined in the hunt by owner occupiers.”
Investors and owner occupiers recently competed for the former premises of Brighton icon Wild Holly Cakes on Bay Street, which Fitzroys sold $2.905 million.
The agency also sold the vacant former Commonwealth Bank branch at 692 Old Calder Highway in Keilor to a private investor.