Pallas pads out inner-city headquarters
Boutique property finance development outfit Pallas Group has pre-leased 60 per cent of the space of its new South Melbourne headquarters.
The group has also leased 70 per cent of its Double Bay office in Sydney, bringing the total annual income to $2.35 million so far.
Fortis director Charles Mellick said the recent wins reflect positive sentiment despite the pandemic.
“Also, we believe city fringe commercial spaces have benefited from the difficulties faced by CBD tower commercial space,” he said.
The Pallas Group is the parent company of property developer Fortis and structured property investment arranger Pallas Capital. Fortis has a $1.4 billion pipeline of projects split evenly between Sydney and Melbourne, including a large proposed development in Clifton Hill.
During the pandemic, Pallas Capital has banked $22.75 million for projects in Richmond and Chadstone.
The site for Pallas House Melbourne, at 67-69 Palmerston Crescent, was purchased last summer for $8.6 million. Construction is set to start on the nine-storey building in September.
To date, leasing deals worth $550,000 have been committed for the 3200 sq m of space, mostly from a cluster of finance outfits and property businesses.
The Double Bay office at 30-36 Bay Street is undergoing a $15 million upgrade which is expected to be completed early-2021. Leasing commitments worth $1.8m have been struck there.
Bottlemart
Caydon has offloaded another of the new shops at its Mason Square development, the $700 million project it built on the old Moonee Ponds market.
The 40 Hall Street shop fetched $1,025,000 and was sold to a Darwin-based investor putting money into commercial property for the first time.
The deal, reflecting a yield around 5 per cent, comes as the massive 1100 unit project gets close to completion.
The shop is leased to a Bottlemart bottle shop, an almost recession and pandemic-proof retailing category.
Only one space remains available along the Hall Street precinct.
CBRE’s Jason Orenbuch, Rorey James and Nic Hage handled the transaction.
Mr Hage said “The property was offered to the market before COVID-19 restrictions and initially intended for auction. The restrictions forced a change in tack, at which point the property was repositioned and a ???private sale’ process commenced.”
North-east of the city on the corner of Bell Street and Upper Heidelberg Road, Mr Orenbuch and Zelman Ainsworth have leased a 186 sq m space to a cafe in Caydon’s imposing 248-unit Ivanhoe Apartments at $45,000 a year.
Mr Orenbuch said there has been high demand for operators wanting to be close to the Austin Hospital and the surrounding medical precinct.
Knight Frank agents Matthew Romanin and Nick Bisset are also selling a large 822 sq m office in the 443 Upper Heidelberg Road development which is expected to fetch around $5.5 million.
The ground floor office is leased to The Institute for Social Neuroscience Psychology College for 10 years, returning $358,817 a year in rent.
Auto shop
Meanwhile just a bit further up the road at 537 Upper Heidelberg Road, Heidelberg Mitsubishi is on the move, poised to leave a large 5606 sq m parcel of land vacant.
NSL Property Group’s Guy Naselli has the listing. The property, which has 174 metres frontage opposite Heidelberg Cemetery, includes a 2586 sq m building.
Mr Naselli said there have been enquiries from leading automotive brands, but the closeness to the Austin Hospital lends it to potential medical related uses.
He even flagged the potential for a hospitality group to make use of the big site.
The car yard site was bought nearly 20 years ago by REIL Dealership Bonds, an entity associated with Sydney-based accountants group Bentleys.
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