Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne puts Victoria Parade landmark up for sale
The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne has listed a nine-level school administration building with uninterrupted views across Fitzroy Gardens for mid-$20 million, as the organisation continues to offload its vast East Melbourne property portfolio.
Held by the organisation for more than 30 years, James Goold House at 228 Victoria Parade served as the long-time head office for Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS), which owns and operates around 300 primary and secondary schools across greater Melbourne. Employees are expected to be relocated closer to St Patrick’s Cathedral.
“It no longer serves a purpose aligned with the current mission priorities of the archdiocese,” a spokesperson said. “Proceeds from the sale will be directed towards advancing key archdiocesan initiatives.”
Offered with vacant possession and leased to MACS until late January 2027, the property is positioned within one of the city’s premier medical precincts. It is being pitched for a wide range of future uses, including a hotel, build-to-rent, co-living, student accommodation, or residential conversion (STCA).
The 4.5-star NABERS energy-rated asset features more than 20 metres of frontage to tree-lined Victoria Parade, with 5200 square metres of lettable office space on a 1016-square-metre land parcel, including 60 basement car spaces.
It is being marketed via an international expressions-of-interest campaign by Cushman & Wakefield directors Oliver Hay, Daniel Wolman and Leon Ma.
Hay says the property has broad appeal as it sits in a sought-after pocket of Melbourne famous for its well-preserved Victorian homes.
“Very seldom does the opportunity to purchase a building of over 5000 square metres within the epicentre of Melbourne’s hospital, university and Fitzroy Gardens precinct present itself,” he says.
“East Melbourne presents one of the country’s most tightly held and constrained property markets due to the very limited development land and strong heritage controls, resulting in any future supply growth being structurally constrained.
The Commercial 1-zoned property is described as one of East Melbourne’s last remaining park-view office opportunities at scale, in a precinct where A-grade vacancy sits at just 1.6 per cent. Investors will benefit from an annual net passing income of more than $2 million until the lease expires on January 27, 2027.
Jessica Crossland, a spokesperson for transaction advisers Charter Keck Cramer, who are working alongside the agents, describes the opportunity as rare.
“Opportunities to acquire assets with both immediate utility and longer-term flexibility are increasingly scarce in this market,” she says. “We expect interest from owner-occupiers, value-add investors and adaptive re-use developers.”
The listing comes in a significant period of divestment for the archdiocese, including the $10.54 million sale of 384-388 Albert Street last September to Rino and Diana Grollo’s Australian Alpine Institute. At the time, the organisation also listed the three triple-storey Victorian terraces at 402-406 Albert Street.
The Victoria Parade site enjoys excellent connectivity, with Parliament Station just 700 metres away and Jolimont Station within walking distance. It sits at the nexus of the city’s medical precinct, located 350 metres from St Vincent’s Private Hospital and 140 metres from Australian Catholic University.
The property is being marketed by Cushman & Wakefield through an international expressions-of-interest campaign closing at 12pm on June 17.
