A new dawn breaks for Footscray's skyline

Well-placed industry sources say the state government's development arm, VicUrban, has appointed Grocon as preferred bidder to develop the overgrown 1.3 hectare site in McNab Avenue.

Equiset, Metier 3 and Salta were speculated to be in the mix of prospective developers vying to build the $250 million community.

But, in the end, it's believed Grocon, headed by Daniel Grollo, and rival developer, Equity Pacific Capital Partners, made the final shortlist. Both builders have experience working with government. EPCP is particularly prevalent around Docklands.

EPCP is controlled by the Pacific Group, former Jones Lang LaSalle director Patrick Smith, and Lorenz Grollo who happens to be Daniel's cousin. Lorenz also heads developer Equiset.

VicUrban first sought expressions of interest to develop the Footscray property in October. A spokeswoman said it was not in a position to comment about the campaign. Grocon and EPCP also declined to comment on the speculation when contacted by Capital Gain.

As well as shops, the Footscray project will include a 14-level office tower, reportedly already leased to government departments State Trustees and City West Water. A residential component with at least two major towers part-allocated as commission flats and student accommodation is reportedly also earmarked for the site.

Roads around the site will be realigned, while part of the property is expected to be required for rail works.

Footscray's most recent large development is at the intersection of Hopkins, Cowper and Wingfield streets, where builder Caydon recently completed a seven-level, 81-unit tower, Axiom.

Major development sites have sold recently in Hopkins, Moreland, Whitehall and Warde streets, while a higher density redevelopment is mooted for the Forges of Footscray sites, which sold to Vietnamese businessmen for $16 million last July.

In general, development is focused around the Footscray railway station Melbourne's busiest outside of the five "city loop" stops.

Footscray station has been earmarked as a terminal for an airport rail link that would extend to Tullamarine, utilising an existing industrial track that loosely follows the Western Ring Road, from Sunshine, nearby.

Royal digs hit market

A LUXURIOUS homestead near Wilsons Promontory occupied by Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark during the Olympic Games and immediately after he met his wife-to-be, Mary has hit the market.

The Waratah Park Country House has been fitted out as a high-end, six-bedroom country club and the asking price is $1.65 million.

An adjoining parcel of land with a 54-lot residential subdivision is for sale for $1.5 million.

John H. Castran director John Castran is the marketing agent.

Prince Frederick occupied the hotel twice again after 2000, including after his marriage to the former Tasmanian real estate agent in 2004. His brother, Prince Joachim and their Royal Chamberlain have also been guests.

Colonial sells shops

COLONIAL First State pocketed $14 million this week from the sale of a portfolio of shops opposite its sizeable Forest Hill Chase Shopping Centre in Melbourne's east.

The Sydney-based developer and fund manager offloaded 18 of the 23 shops listed for sale, after a campaign targeting small investors.

The sold shops range in size from 50 square metres to 500 sq m, and traded for between $350,000 and $2.5 million, and on yields of between 3.78 per cent and 8 per cent.

The portfolio included a former three-level cinema at 63-67 Mahoneys Road.

CFS acquired the shops when it purchased the shopping centre for $214.5 million in late 2005.

Gross Waddell's Tim Darcy and Raoul Salter marketed the surplus retail assets for CFS.

School yard sale

AFTER 119 years, one of Abbotsford's most prominent properties will be offered for private sale.

The Roman Catholic Trust Corporation for the Diocese of Melbourne is selling the former St Joseph's Technical School at 73-103 Nicholson Street, at the intersection of Mollison and Little Charles streets.

Between 1893 and 1990, the school operated under the auspice of the Christian Brothers.

Most recently, the property has been used as a campus for Steiner school Sofia Mundi, which still pays close to $200,000 a year in rent, despite relocating students to new digs at the Abbotsford Convent years ago.

The 4800 sq m site includes a distinctive double-fronted Victorian residence, another two-storey residence with 25 rooms, and a 2636 sq m building now configured as classrooms, a library and administration offices.

Knight Frank directors Paul Henley and Ken Smirk are expecting about $8 million for the old school, suggesting a $60 million-plus residential-based project could replace it.

The Denton Mills factory across the road was recently redeveloped into luxury apartments with ground floor shops.

A medium-density townhouse project also replaced a kindergarten at the corner of Charles, Langridge and Mollison streets.

Serrata half-Japanese

SYDNEY-BASED developer and fund manager Lend Lease has announced an agreement to develop a swag of national, master-planned residential and community projects with Japan-based Sekisui House.

The arrangement, which is subject to conditions, will see Sekisui acquire a 50 per cent interest in Lend Lease's controversial 15-level Serrata apartment tower proposal in Docklands.

Sekisui House will also buy land at Lend Lease's Hyatt Coolum on the Sunshine Coast, and a piece of a project at Wentworth Point, near Homebush, in western Sydney.

Eyesore renewal ready

THE Hong Kong-based developer Far East Consortium is ready to redevelop one of the Melbourne CBD's biggest remaining development sites.

Planning Minister Justin Madden this week approved the construction of a $1 billion-plus, multi-skyscraper compound to replace the notorious eyesore known between 1950 and 2008 as the Lonsdale Street power station, at the Docklands-CBD suburb border, opposite Southern Cross Station.

The Upper West Side complex, as it has been marketed, will include four major skyscrapers between 31 and 50 levels linked by a one-hectare podium rooftop garden, with a vegetable patch and children's play area.

Retail will flank the ground levels.

Only two original buildings fronting Spencer Street, and a historic water tank, will be retained as part of the redevelopment.

The rest of the block will be replaced with shops, offices and about 2500 apartments, able to accommodate more than 7500 residents or the population of a small suburb.

Construction is expected to start within weeks.

The north-west corner of the CBD is seeing a wave of development activity at the moment, with high-rise buildings also earmarked for parts of the old Age site, across the road from Upper West Side.

Major residential and office buildings are also planned on the Docklands side of the Southern Cross Station where, among others, heavyweight developers Charter Hall, Lang Walker, Lend Lease and Mirvac own prime sites.

Far East wasted no time marketing the Upper West Side apartments, settling to buy the property in February, and advertising flats for sale in June and before obtaining a tick from Planning Minister Madden.

Between 2005 and early 2009, the site was owned by Russian businessmen, who proposed a similarly high-density redevelopment, but had no luck finding a major office tenant to help fund the wider project. Far East paid $33.1 million for the site.

In a show of how fast values have moved at the western edge of the CBD, the Melbourne City Council sold the then-contaminated power station site to developers for $4 million in 2002, after it languished on the market for more than a year.

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