Melbourne-based property investment specialist OpenCorp has paid $6.55 million for a residential site with plans for a new apartment development at Hawthorn East in Melbourne’s inner-eastern suburbs.
According to selling agents, Savills’ Julian Heatherich, James Lockwood and Jesse Radisich, the 757-763 Toorak Road property attracted very strong interest from developers looking to take advantage of Melbourne’s burgeoning apartment market.
"This was an exceptional site offering developers great flexibility and site access as well as main street exposure in one of Melbourne’s most sought after inner suburbs and within easy reach of all essential amenities," Mr Heatherich said.
"With more than 80 enquiries and numerous submissions, the response from the market during the campaign absolutely reflected those very desirable attributes."The property comprises four individual residential sites sold as one to offer a 1595 square metre, mixed use site ideally suited to apartment development with nearly 40 metres frontage to Toorak Road and secondary access via a rear laneway. A development concept plan for the property includes 52 large apartments and two retail spaces.
The properties are located amidst a high level of retail and transport amenity, including Tooronga Village Shopping Centre and railway station and the Monash Freeway, and within close proximity of several highly regarded schoolsMr Heatherich said a conservative estimate of the market values of the four individual lots suggested the value of the property sold as a whole had appreciated by around 50 per cent.
"Again, astute home owners are realising the outstanding benefits of pooling their resources in these composite offerings to what is an extremely robust residential development market,’’ he said.
The purchase of the Toorak Road property brings the total value of OpenCorp's Victorian developments to over $100 million and nationally to over
$500 million. OpenCorp has also recently purchased a site in Ivanhoe, also within the Boroondara Council zone.
OpenCorp has engaged architectural firm ROTHELOWMAN to design the Hawthorn East development with the aim of attracting owner-occupiers in the area.
