Solomon Lew Takes St Kilda Road Property For $55 million

Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments has pounced on the vacant 457 St Kilda Road for $55 million, as space on Melbourne’s premier boulevard becomes tightly contested between property developers.

The deal was negotiated by Teska Carson’s Michael Taylor, Michael Ludski and Ion Teska, in conjunction with CBRE’s Josh Rutman, Kiran Pillai and Mark Wizel.

Mr Taylor said the price reflected both the very strong demand for St Kilda Road property and an acute awareness of a looming shortage of prime opportunities in a booming residential market.

"St KiIda Road has been in the news most recently regarding conversions to residential with tens of thousands of square metres of office stock withdrawn in the last 12 months alone.

"This fact was not lost on a development community eager to play a part in providing quality residential product to Melbourne’s rapidly growing population and what better address could you find.

"On the other hand St Kilda Road remains an office address of choice offering an unrivalled parkland environment and superb access to the CBD which has driven phenomenal rental growth over the last 12 to 18 months," he said.

"Either way the building provided an exceptional investment opportunity."Located in St Kilda Road’s Fawkner Park precinct the property comprises 9349 square metres of office space over eight stories with 119 parking bays on a 3035 square metre site.

Recently vacated by Computershare subsidiary, Serviceworks Management, the property was sold with vacant possession providing the new owner with carte blanche.

The property reportedly appealed to a broad cross-section of the market including owner-occupiers, developers and investors based on its position on Melbourne’s best boulevard, views, and access to parkland and the CBD.

The property was last sold in 2002 also through Teska Carson.

The vendor was a private investment group.