Forza Capital Sells Abbotsford Car Park for $14.6m

Property investment group Forza Capital has sold a car park in Melbourne’s Abbotsford for $14.6 million.

The 3880sq m site at 35 Flockhart Street sits along the Yarra River-Birrarung and is close to the Victoria Garden shopping centre in Richmond, itself currently the subject of a redevelopment project.

Fronting Victoria Street, the site is close to the 109 tramline. 

It is currently zoned Industrial 1, allowing a variety of commercial applications on the site of the four-storey car park with 470 bays.

Jones Real Estate managing director Paul Jones, who secured the off-market sale for the site for Forza Capital, said private investors remained keen on the office market in Melbourne.

“There is significant private capital seeking deployment into Victoria’s commercial real estate market,” Jones said. 

The Victorian capital’s office market generally has however remained relatively quiet as investors zero in on high-quality buildings.

As well, the City of Melbourne is incentivising retrofitting existing buildings or adaptively reusing premises rather than building from scratch as part of its net zero carbon policies.

Investa has recently received support from the City of Melbourne for its plans to demolish a car park at 522-552 Flinders Lane and build a 28-storey office tower.

▲ The car park at 35 Flockhart Street, Abbotsford has four storeys and 470 car parking bays.

The plan was supported as the existing ramps and ceiling heights made it impossible to adequately retrofit or renovate the site to residential or office use without breaching codes and regulations around daylight access and ceiling heights.

Victoria’s Department of Transport and Planning will make the final determination on Investa’s application.