Development site sales still booming
This morning The Australian reported that a large chunk of the former CUB site bordering the CBD had been sold by Grocon to a mainland Chinese developer for $60 million, thus continuing the string of high profile sites purchased for a healthy sum. With the buoyant market seemingly churning out major development sites within days of one another, it's an opportune time to cast an eye over some of the biggest and best development sites currently available in order to assess whether the market still has steam.
Industry leader CBRE currently has a plethora of large development sites capable of handling thousands of apartments on its books, signifying the underlying strength of demand for development sites particularly from Asian-based developers. Below is an overview of current projects according to CBRE's Property Connector widget.
| Address | Sire area | Status | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 551 Swanston Street, Melbourne | 6,561sqm | Sold | Multi towers expected |
| 15-27 Wreckyn Street, Nth Melb | 2,271sqm | Sold | 13 offers. Buyer - Mammoth Empire |
| 2 Wests Road, Maribyrnong | 3,871sqm | For Sale | Endorsed plans for 192 apartments |
| 285 Thomas Street, Dandenong | 2642sqm | For Sale | Endorsed plans for 198 apartments |
| 2 Small Street, Hampton | 438sqm | Sold | Apartment development site |
| 168 Exhibition Street, Melbourne | 748sqm | For Sale | 54 level apartment tower scheme included |
| 535 - 541 Royal Parade, Parkville | 3,221sqm | For Sale | Development site |
| 30 & 71 Inkerman Street, St Kilda | 379sqm | For Sale/Sold | Dual apartment development sites |
| 115-117 Church Street, Richmond | 1,505sqm | For Sale | Endorsed plans for 76 apartments |
| 17 - 23 Wills Street, Melbourne | 705sqm | For Sale | Endorsed plans for 232 apartments |
| 117 Kooyong Road & 21-23 Munro Street, Armadale | 6,070sqm | For Sale | Develpment site |
| 58 & 66 Dorcas Street, South Melbourne | 3,492sqm | For Sale | 480 apartments at planning |
| 47 City Road, Southbank | 863sqm | For Sale | Development site |
| 28-30 Maroondah Highway, Ringwood | 9,429sqm | For sale | Multiple residential towers expected |
The headline acts
Taller towers naturally tend to garner more attention and seen above are the three standout developments designed for Melbourne's CBD and Southbank. 58-66 Dorcas Street and 17-23 Wills Street combined would yield 712 new dwellings if realised while the Peddle Thorp concept for 168 Exhibition Street may yield in excess of 300 apartments if followed through.
Absent from the list above is 464 Collins Street which was offered for sale by CBRE on behalf of Equiset, only for Equiset to seek additional levels for the slender tower in a recent revised planning application and deny the site had been sold to offshore interests.
What it all means?
Strong listings and sales for development sites in and around Melbourne tends to point to an underlying strength in the market. As yet no steam has been lost as developers are still showing an insatiable appetite for well positioned sites capable of handling sizeable apartment projects.
Once listings and sales do taper off it may well point to a change in market conditions. These factors will be explored in a number of upcoming articles outlining the concerns of the current apartment market dynamic but for the time being Melbourne looks set to go from strength to strength, all the time adding new towers to the already impressive skyline.