Uniting Church site in Melbourne's Ivanhoe East sold for $11.05 million

A sizeable piece of land with three Uniting Church buildings in Melbourne's Ivanhoe East has been acquired by an aged care provider for $11.05 million at a strong land rate of $2,030 per sqm, underscoring the desirability of the location.

The 321 Lower Heidelberg Road site had been listed by Colliers who had expected interest from developers.

The site has an area of 5,441 sqm and comprises two former church halls and an additional recreation/dining hall building.

It is zoned General Residential 2 under the city of Banyule planning scheme.

The selling agents were Colliers International’s Jeremy Gruzewski and Ted Dwyer, who marketed the site through an expressions-of-interest campaign.

“The sheer size and zoning of the property make it perfect for high-end residential, aged care or other development, subject to council approval,” Gruzewski said.

Other features include tennis courts and a house.

As at November 2016, the median house price in Ivanhoe East was $1.75 million, which Gruzewski said raised the scope for residential development promising solid return.

“Being one of Melbourne’s better areas, Ivanhoe East is never going to go out of fashion.”

The East Ivanhoe church was earmarked for disposal in 2013 when the Uniting Church set out on a sales plan to help foot the bill from the failed Acacia College private school, but its listing was delayed till late 2016 due to a review of operations by a network of congregations in the Banyule area, according to a report to the Uniting Church Synod made by the church's property board, Fairfax Media noted.

The newspaper also said that no Uniting Church congregation has worshipped on the site for more than 20 years although the independent Bread of Life Church currently uses one of the three buildings there.