Financiers sell Clint Bartram's development site

An auction scheduled for April was pulled because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Gray Johnson agent Matt Hoath, who marketed the site with Rory White, said an established apartment builder from the eastern suburbs had picked up the site.

Multiple offers were made for the property which has a permit for a four-level 18-unit project, Mr Hoath said.

The row of shops at 43-47 Simpson Street is tucked away between Dennis railway station and Westgarth Primary School.

Mr Bartram turned to property development after his AFL career finished in 2012 and has a second apartment project in Northcote at the old bank building at 340-342 High Street.

Old warehouse

A locally based Malaysian investor has paid $3.2 million for an old warehouse at 656-658 Elizabeth Street, near the Haymarket Roundabout.

CBRE agent Julian White, who negotiated the transaction with Nathan Mufale, Alex Brierley and Chao Zhang, said the property sold off-market on a 21-day settlement.

The single level Victorian-era warehouse is leased to Health Foods and Allied Products and sold on a pointy yield of 1.16 per cent.

But the lease expires at the end of August and the buyer has long-term development plans, Mr White said.

The 173-square metre property came with a permit for a 13-storey development designed by Kerstin Thompson Architects.

Back in the CBD centre, the building housing The Mess Hall restaurant at 51 Bourke Street has just come to market with price expectations of about $6 million.

“This will be the first test for prime city freehold in the COVID era,” Mr White said.

The Mess Hall has a six-year lease, with a six-year option on the 190-square metre double-storey property.

Student digs

Also for sale on the city fringe is 21-23 Anthony Street, a three-storey apartment building that comes with a permit for an 11-storey student apartment tower.

The off-market listing is expected to be converted into a formal campaign soon, according to agent Tiga Commercial’s David Sia and Martin Leong, who said it had attracted 100 enquiries already.

It’s expected to fetch more than $8 million for the vendor, Rufino Viilaluz’s Dysin Investment Partners, who paid $5.65 million for the 291-square metre site in 2017.

Dysin Investment Partners has a solid pipeline of suburban projects but this was the sole CBD development on its books.

Tiga Commercial is one of a bevy of new smaller agencies started by agents who recently worked at tier-one agencies, and its founders include CBRE’s Nick Hii, Patrick Sia and Melissa Sahin.

St Johns

Another former CBRE agent, Guy Naselli, has started up NSL Property Group and is marketing an office warehouse in West Melbourne with a three-year lease to St Johns Ambulance.

Records show Manfax Hardware and Paint mogul Robert Larsson bought the city-fringe warehouse in March 2019 for $5.04 million