Chinese developer pays more than $8 million for slab of concrete in Box Hill
A Chinese developer has paid $8.25 million for an empty block in Melbourne’s east, held by the same family for 30 years.
The 1004-square-metre parking lot at 13 Prospect Street, Box Hill, which has nothing on it, sold for a land rate of more than $8200 a square metre.
The China-based developer, which has a strong interest in Melbourne, plans to develop the site into an office complex. The site allows for a development of more than 20 levels to be built.
The block is wedged between two properties which both sold last year. The site at number 9-11 is approved for 187 apartments and about 3000 square metres of commercial and retail space. On the other side, number 15-17 is occupied by investors who have been land-banking for future development.
The sale of number 13 follows a string of development site deals last year in Box Hill, with one 2000-square-metre service station around the corner at 843 Whitehorse Road fetching $22.55 million.
The suburb is in the midst of a development boom, though most projects have been focused on residential.
If the plans for number 13 go ahead, it will be one of only a handful of new commercial towers in Box Hill, with the Grocon-developed 20-storey Australian Taxation Office building being the tallest.
While Box Hill is going through a building boom, the site at 13 Prospect Street is underdeveloped. Photo: Google Maps
“(Box Hill) is being transformed; there’s been quite a number of developments that have already taken place and quite a number that are going to take place very soon. It’s rapidly evolving into a higher density location for sure,” Savills selling agent Nick Peden said.
“It cements Box Hill as the strongest development market in Melbourne, has been for a few years and certainly continues to be.”
Out of the 70 enquiries and 13 contract requests, five offers were made during the campaign.
Mr Peden attributed the interest to the site’s location in Box Hill’s major development precinct near the train station and its high-density development potential.
Foreign cash still flowing in
His co-agent Clinton Baxter said the talk of Chinese money withdrawing from Australia was “a misconception”, suggesting that this was only happening at the top end of the market where hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars were at stake.
“(Those affected are) big state-owned enterprises or major public companies or huge conglomerates that have connectivity with or are influenced by the Chinese government,” he said.
Mr Baxter noted that the amount of Chinese capital in the sub $50 million market “is at unprecedented levels”.
“Our experience on the street is that there’s no shortage of Chinese capital, there is more in the Melbourne market that there was in 2017 and much more than there was in 2016.
“What we’re finding is that the more the Chinese government tries to control capital, the more the wealthy private people in China seem determined to relocate some of their wealth offshore.”
The agent added that foreign Chinese investment had “dried up” in the residential market, including apartments and established housing, but not in commercial property thanks to fewer government restrictions in this space.
“(That’s) because there’s been an Australian government crackdown on foreign nationals buying our established residential housing stock and the capital still needs to find a home.”
