ResidentialLindsay SaundersThu 11 Jun 26
Cedar Woods Pay $30m for Super Site at Kealba in Melbourne’s North-West
A major infill development site in Melbourne’s north-west has sold-off market for $30.85 million.
The 6.7ha site, at 27 Driscolls Road, Kealba, once the site of a high school, was reportedly acquired by Cedar Woods from Ryman Healthcare.
The sale was handled by Hamish Burgess and Joe Kairouz of Cushman & Wakefield.
Ryman paid $35 million for the site in late 2021 and had planned an integrated retirement village of 194 homes. It said it has sold the parcel as part of a strategic divestment program.
It is understood Cedar Woods is considering a masterplanned townhouse community of more than 200 homes on the General Residential zoned site.
This deal equates to a land rate of approximately $508 per sq m and comes as developers increasingly compete for well-located sites with scale, planning certainty and strong underlying residential fundamentals.
Cushman & Wakefield director of development sites Joe Kairouz said the scale and flexibility of the parcel made it one of the more significant residential land transactions in the market this year.
“Large infill sites of this calibre are becoming increasingly difficult to secure, particularly those capable of supporting meaningful medium-density outcomes within established metropolitan areas,” he said.
The deal reflects growing conviction around Melbourne’s middle-ring residential markets as institutional-grade groups continue to position for the next residential growth cycle, showing demand for large-scale infill opportunities to support medium-density housing outcomes.
The Kealba site, about 15km from Melbourne’s CBD, has access to major arterial roads, already established residential amenities and improving infrastructure connectivity across Melbourne’s western growth corridor.
Hamish Burgess of Cushman & Wakefield said they were seeing “well-capitalised groups moving decisively to secure future pipeline opportunities, particularly across Melbourne’s middle-ring growth corridors where housing demand fundamentals remain extremely strong”.
“There is a growing sense that the market is approaching an inflection point, with sophisticated developers looking beyond short-term noise and positioning themselves ahead of the next residential upswing,” he said.
