Private Investor Acquires Malvern East Office Building

A commercial property in the heart of Malvern East has changed hands following an influx of interest from a deep pool of buyers.

Colliers International’s Peter Bremner and Ben Baines, in conjunction with Robert Kelly of GormanKelly, have sold 1911 Malvern Road in Malvern East shortly after auction for $9.85 million.

The 2,315sqm, three-level office building, with 87 on-site car parking spaces, is situated on a 1,604sqm site and is currently fully leased. It returns a net income of approximately $717,091 per annum.

The property sold shortly after auction to an active private investor, Garry Dumbrell, who also acquired 17-27 Cotham Road Kew for $10.3 million at a March 2013 auction run by Colliers International and Gorman Kelly.

Mr Bremner said the strong sale of 1911 Malvern Road was reflective of the lack of supply in 2015 for quality suburban commercial office investments.

“The campaign was extremely well received, with in excess of 150 enquiries from a mix of local private, offshore and syndicate buyers,” he said.

“With a WALE of approximately 1.3 years, it was the underlying land, ripe for future redevelopment potential (STCA) and the underlet nature of the building that underpinned the eventual 7.28 per cent yield.”

Mr Kelly said the sale represented a rare opportunity to purchase a multi-tenanted freehold office building in Melbourne’s tightly held Metropolitan office market with future development upside (STCA).

"Investors were attracted to the fully leased nature of the building and blue chip Malvern location, whilst developers were drawn to the Commercial 1 zoning which allows future residential use (STCA),” he said.

“There is a substantial apartment project under construction on the opposite corner, which sets the scene for development in the immediate area."Situated on a substantial Commercial 1 zoned allotment, the building is situated among an array of shops and cafes, has good access to public transport including Darling train station and is within close proximity to major arterials including the Monash Freeway.

The purchaser intends to carry out some capital works to the building to assist in securing new tenants in the future.