Pace Picks Up Long-Held Land for Next-Gen Offices

After more than 100 years a local family has parted ways with two adjoining lots in Melbourne’s south-east, giving Pace Development Group a windfall development site in one of the city’s trendier neighbourhoods.

Pace paid $7.78 million for the two lots in the heart of Windsor, which together have a footprint of 907 square metres.

The developer-builder acquired two of the three properties sold by the family of two elderly brothers—both of whom had recently died. Brokers for the sale say the properties had been in the family for three generations.

Pace, which has more than 100 projects across Melbourne, plans a $33-million commercial office building on the site at 1A Windsor Place and 70 Chapel Street.

Critically, the narrow second acquisition—just 170sq m in size—will give the developer a laneway access to the bustling Chapel Street precinct with its heavy foot-traffic.

“We’re pretty excited about Windsor, we think it’s the next Cremorne and we think there’ll be a movement out of the CBD,” sales and marketing director Ashley Bramich said.

“We believe there’ll be a huge rush for employers to attract the next generation of talent and what it will come down to, in many instances, when choosing an employer will be the amenity that’s offered in the workplace.”

Pace will target a mix of tenants, including creative agencies and small businesses for the development, and expects to house up to 400 office workers.

Bramich said they’d been approached by a potential client who was looking to create a co-working space with 2000 to 3000 square metres.

“That would effectively take up 50 to 60 per cent of the building, which they’ll try to lease out at a premium, but offer smaller spaces with maybe a greater amenity attraction.”

▲ It’s Pace’s third commercial project in Melbourne’s south-eastern ring, including the 10-storey building at 51 Langridge Street, Collingwood.

Pace managing director Shane Wilkinson said the acquisition aligned with Pace’s strategy of balancing and diversifying their portfolio of commercial and residential projects.

“Due to the lack of comparable product in the area, we have a unique opportunity to build a boutique office offering that provides state-of-the-art facilities to its tenants.

“The footprint of both sites allows us to deliver the outstanding level of amenity that Pace has become known for, including central bicycle parking and high-quality end-of-trip facilities, landscaped outdoor terrace spaces and EV charging facilities.

Pace officials were sitting down with Melbourne-based Breathe Architects this week to begin the design and planning process, which they expect to be complete in time for a leasing campaign by late 2023.

The Windsor site will become Pace’s third commercial project in Melbourne’s south-eastern ring. They have Six Cubitt—an 11-storey commercial building—currently under construction in neighbouring Cremorne, and a 10-level building at 51 Langridge Street in Collingwood.

Most recently Pace lodged plans for a $100-million apartment project in Brunswick East, days after securing $19 million in pre-sales for its Flemington Racecourse project.

Windsor—about 5km from central Melbourne or a 12-minute tram ride—is bounded by Prahran, South Yarra and St Kilda.