RetailLindsay SaundersThu 21 May 26
Coombes Property Group Pays $154m for Midtown Melbourne
Sydney-based Coombes Property Group has made its first major move into Victoria, acquiring Midtown Melbourne at 246 Bourke Street for $154 million in the largest CBD retail transaction since 2024.
The prominent mixed-use asset, sold by IFM Investors, occupies the high-profile corner of Bourke and Swanston streets at the entrance to Bourke Street Mall and comprises 15,233sq m of retail and office space across a nine-level freehold building.
The 2787sq m site includes extensive frontages to Bourke, Swanston and Little Bourke streets on one of Australia’s busiest pedestrian intersections, with more than four million people passing the corner annually.
The asset was listed for sale in September with a campaign managed by Cushman & Wakefield agents Oliver Hay, Trent Weir, Leon Ma and Daniel Wolman.
The process attracted 125 enquiries and 13 offers, underscoring renewed investor appetite for institutional-grade CBD retail assets amid Melbourne’s retail recovery, the agents said.
The sale reflected a building rate of more than $10,000 per square metre and was underpinned by a tenant mix including Telstra, HSBC, Chemist Warehouse, Daiso and W-Cosmetics.
A newly secured lease to Japanese retailer MUJI will replace Telstra in 2027 with a three-level flagship store within the asset.
Coombes Property Group was advised on the acquisition by MA Financial Group, which has also been retained to provide ongoing asset and property management services.
MA Financial head of core real estate Chris Lock said Midtown was a compelling repositioning opportunity as Melbourne’s CBD and Bourke Street Mall precinct continued to recover and regenerate.
“Midtown Melbourne aligns with the investment and asset management capabilities of our core real estate platform,” he said.
“MA Financial actively manages approximately $4.5 billion in retail and office assets, bringing scale and expertise to this asset.
“This mandate reflects our long-term conviction in high-quality retail and office assets and further strengthens our position as a leading manager in Australia’s real estate sector.”
Hay said the campaign drew interest from domestic private capital groups seeking scale, secure income and long-term exposure to Melbourne’s retail core.
“We saw strong engagement from high-net-worth investors and private capital groups looking for irreplaceable CBD retail assets with secure income, proven foot traffic and the ability to benefit from Melbourne’s continued retail recovery,” he said.
Weir said the asset’s scale, location and leasing outcome with MUJI helped drive one of the city’s most competitive retail campaigns in recent years.
“Midtown is one of Melbourne’s most recognisable CBD retail corners,” he said.
“The strength of the result reflects the quality of the location, the diversified income profile and repositioning of the retail offering.”
The acquisition caps off a busy six months for Coombes Property Group, which in late 2025 was appointed alongside Mirvac and Lendlease as a development and delivery partner for the Hunter Street Station precinct as part of the Sydney Metro West project.
