Self-Storage Firm Snaps Up Melbourne’s Kodak Factory

An adaptive reuse is planned for the former headquarters of Kodak in Melbourne’s Abbotsford after it changed hands for $19 million.

Fitzroys sold the 3099sq m site made up of 2-6 Southampton Crescent, 36 Bond Street and 27-29 Duke Street, Abbotsford, 2km north-east of the CBD, on behalf of Melbourne-based developer Hengyi to Howzit My China—a self-storage operator.

Howzit My China’s Gayle and Carl Sachs now plan to convert Southampton Crescent—built in 1928 for Kodak—into a self-storage facility.

This would be their second self-storage development after a $25-million facility in Moorabbin, 15km south-east of the CBD. 

“This location presented a unique opportunity for our construction and property development division,” Gayle Sachs said.

The sale included the Duke and Bond street site, currently occupied by warehouse tenants, with an approved permit for a nine-level commercial building. The site is opposite Carlton & United Breweries’ Yarra River brewery.

Hengyi general manager Simon Manley said the site did not align with its original business focus of mixed-use residential projects. Hengyi paid $20 million for the site in 2018. 

▲ The former Kodak headquarters and adjoining warehouses.

Fitzroys’ Paul Burns and Chris James handled the sale.

“Abbotsford and the surrounding inner-Melbourne suburbs have a large and growing number of medium and high-density homes that are conducive to requiring self-storage options nearby, making this an opportune repositioning play,” Burns said.

“Developers such as Salta, Hamton, Icon and Pace have all recently completed residential projects in rapidly gentrifying Abbotsford, and development in neighboring locations such as Collingwood, Richmond and Fitzroy is continuing apace.”

James said the property had attracted interest from investors and that the demand for storage space in the area was likely to increase over the years. 

“A number of buyers were looking to capitalise on the growing demand from office users seeking affordable, city fringe accommodation, compared to heated commercial markets such as Richmond and Cremorne,” James said.

▲ The Kodak factory on Southampton Crescent, Abbotsford, in the 1930s. Source: Museums Victoria