Braybrook retail hub hits market near Snowtunnel, Sunshine Superhub
The industrial and retail landscape of Melbourne’s inner-west is bracing for a major shake-up as a sprawling commercial hub hits the market, riding a wave of massive local infrastructure investment and a distinct suburban shift.
Located just 10 kilometres from the Melbourne CBD, the Amart Centre Braybrook at 254 Ballarat Road is up for sale via an expressions of interest campaign managed by Stonebridge Property Group’s Justin Dowers and Kevin Tong.
The listing arrives at a time of unprecedented momentum for the sector. According to Dowers, national partner at Stonebridge Property Group, the appetite for these massive suburban retail spaces has skyrocketed over the past year.
“Large Format Retail (LFR) continues to be one of the strongest performing retail sub-sectors in the country,” says Dowers. “The combination of a strategic inner-metropolitan location, strong existing income and embedded rental growth positions Amart Centre Braybrook as one of the most compelling large format retail investment opportunities currently being offered nationally.”
Prime positioning and diversified income
The massive 9713-square-metre complex sits on a prime 1.6-hectare corner block with high-visibility, billboard-like exposure. It boasts a massive 257 metres of combined frontage across busy Ballarat Road – one of Melbourne’s key inner-western arterial corridors – and Lacy Street.
While anchor tenant Amart Furniture accounts for 61 per cent of the site’s gross income, the property features a diversified income stream. It includes a mix of commercial offices, two other large-format specialty retailers, Spa World and Harbour Lane Furniture, and hospitality venues like Mr Brooks Stonegrill & Bar, alongside 128 on-site car parks.
With a short 1.6-year Weighted Average Lease Expiry (WALE) across the site, the property is expected to generate an estimated fully leased net operating income of $1.98 million per annum.
The asset is tucked alongside a tightly-held retail pocket, sharing the strip with major heavyweights including HomeCo Braybrook, Bunnings Sunshine, and Highpoint Shopping Centre.
Braybrook: a suburb in transition
Beyond retail demand, the suburb of Braybrook itself is rapidly reinventing itself from a gritty industrial stronghold into a lifestyle and entertainment destination.
At an undisclosed local address, an Australian start-up is currently transforming a warehouse site into Snowtunnel Park, an ambitious indoor snow park featuring the world’s first rotating snow tunnel. The attraction is slated to open later this year, with total venue construction costs estimated between $20 million and $25 million. Visitors will be able to ski, snowboard, and play in a climate-controlled alpine ecosystem year-round, completely bypassing the gruelling three-and-a-half-hour trek from Melbourne to the Victorian Alps.
Snowtunnel Parks selected Braybrook for its inaugural location due to its access to a “sports-loving demographic” and a footprint large enough to accommodate the massive 12.5-metre-high and 16-metre-long structure. While a spokesperson would not disclose the site’s exact location, the suburb is expected to see a significant flow-on effect on the surrounding hospitality and retail.
This cultural evolution is being paired with residential renewal. Braybrook is projected to experience rapid population growth by 2051, requiring 10,000 new homes. As part of the state government’s Braybrook Regeneration Project, older housing blocks will be replaced with sustainable, social, and affordable housing options alongside modernised community infrastructure and greener open spaces.
The future ‘western CBD’
The ultimate driver for the area’s real estate, however, lies just 3.5 kilometres down the road at the incoming Sunshine SuperHub, about 12 kilometres west of the CBD.
Set to open by 2030, with major construction already underway, the multibillion-dollar project will transform Sunshine Station into a state-of-the-art transit junction, serving as a Southern Cross Station of the west. The mega-station will host more than 1000 trains a day, seamlessly linking the Metro Tunnel, regional V-Line services, and the future Melbourne Airport Rail link.
Brimbank City Council is leveraging this project via its Sunshine Priority Precinct Vision 2050, aiming to transform the working-class area into a 21st-century city that will serve as Melbourne’s western CBD – effectively doubling the resident and jobs population by 2050. Plans for a National Employment and Innovation Cluster (NEIC) in Sunshine and nearby Albion aim to turn the pocket into a major commercial, medical, and education hub.
“Opportunities include new hotels, convention and business centres, co-working offices, hospitality and retail outlets,” the Brimbank City Council framework outlines. “There is also development potential for a state-significant art gallery or museum and a state-significant stadium.”
For investors, this means the Amart Centre – which operates more than 65 Amart Furniture locations nationally – is sitting on a potential future goldmine, described by Stonebridge as obtaining value-add potential, future repositioning upside and long-term development potential (STCA).
Land-rich assets with this level of visibility and future flexibility within established metropolitan precincts are becoming increasingly scarce, says Tong, a partner at Stonebridge.
“Large format retail fundamentals remain exceptionally strong, supported by limited new supply, rising construction costs and increasing retailer demand for well-located metropolitan floor space,” he says. “Amart Centre Braybrook is particularly compelling given its substantial landholding and high-profile exposure.”
Australia’s Large Format Retail property subsector is outperforming all others, driven by rapid population growth and a looming supply shortage, with vacancy dropping to just 2.8 per cent and average rents climbing 5.6 per cent over the past three years.
The property is for sale via expressions of interest, closing at 5pm on Wednesday, June 24.
