Launceston's former Queen Victoria Maternity Hospital now QV Tower delivers 360-degree views

Located at 11 High Street, the expansive site strikes a commanding presence in the city’s affluent eastern end, some 1.7 kilometres from the CBD.

Following significant upgrades by the current owner, QV Tower is home to 26 tenants from a range of medical and professional services, delivering $1.15 million plus GST in net rent.

The property is being offered to the market in a joint campaign by Burgess Rawson from CBRE & Howell Property Group.

Andy Howell, of Howell Property Group, says the mid-century orange-brick building offers a promising long-term investment in a “healthcare ecosystem”.

“Besides all the heavy lifting done by the owner, it probably has the best views in Launceston, to be honest,” he says. “You can see everything from an impressive 360-degree aspect.”

“It’s a very, very good, solid investment with a decent amount of tenants, so there’s a good spread of risk there, and I think that the purchaser will probably keep it this way for some time.

“It also makes for some pretty impressive apartments … I’m not sure whether that’s in someone’s playbook; it remains to be seen.”

Future apartments are not out of the question, thanks to its flexible urban mixed-use zoning, with 49 metres of frontage and dual access from High and Clarence streets.

In a fitting nod to the property’s hospital past, the Tasmanian state government’s Department of Health remains a solid anchor tenant.

Public servants run the state’s public hospitals from the site, managing community health centres, mental health services and statewide health programs.

Other tenants include an insurance firm, GP clinic, allied health services, psychology, dietetics, disability support services, fertility clinic and cosmetic medical clinic.

Six floors are fully tenanted, including the ground floor, first floor, second floor, third floor and fourth floor, and a basement level B1, says Howell.

Though an extra three underdeveloped floors offer potential, he adds. “There’s certainly some scope to do more if you want.

“There are two smaller floors on the top of the building used as plant rooms, then there’s a secondary basement B2, which is currently storage, but is underutilised. So, someone could possibly put storage cages, or something in there, and get a bit more out of it.”

Howell says buyer interest has been strong and widespread among single investors, groups and investment funds, but would not disclose a price range.

“It’s a pretty unique offering … properties like this don’t come up like this all the time,” he says.

“We’ve been telling everyone to make their own assumptions as an expression of interest.

“And, we’re pretty close to the closure of that, and we still want everyone to make a fair assumption on what value they see in the property.”

QV Tower is just two kilometres from Launceston General Hospital, where operations were absorbed following the maternity hospital’s closure in 1993.

The site – also close to Launceston Aquatic Centre, the University of Tasmania and City Park – grew from its 1930s art deco neighbour. Following a shortage of beds, it was expanded over the years to include the modernist tower, which was operational in the ’60s until it closed.

When rebranding the building following its recent redevelopment, the owners wanted to recognise its history, incorporating a nod to a statue of a mother and baby.

“They named the building with a bit of a tip of the hat to the past,” Howell says. “And there used to be a statue of a lady holding a baby on the front of the building, but it’s now in the Launceston General Hospital. And so they got a logo of that made up.”

The building’s former owner, prominent Tasmanian beekeeper and businessman Lindsay Bourke, reportedly sold the site for $6.35 million four years ago.

The property is being sold via an expressions-of-interest campaign closing on September 18.