Peace Memorial Church in East Melbourne for sale with potential $20 million windfall
capital gains
It’s a sign of the times. The historically non-compliant Melbourne Unitarian Church is selling its Peace Memorial Church in East Melbourne, looking for a windfall of between $18 million and $20 million.
The original 1960s church, which has a steeply pitched pyramid-like roof, was designed by Erik & Grethe Kolle and does not appear to have any heritage protection.
It occupies a spacious 1584 square meter site at 110-118 Gray Street, adjacent to Epworth Hospital and opposite St Vincent’s Private. Fitzroy Gardens is at one end of the street and Powlett Reserve is at the other.
Stonebridge Property Group’s Julian White, Max Warren, Dylan Kilner and Chao Zhang are running the expressions of interest campaign.
The Unitarian Church is one of Melbourne’s oldest religious organisations. He founded his first church in 1852, but it was not without controversy. There have been critics who have argued that Unitarians are hardly even a church.
The church did not respond to a request for comment on its future goal or the size of its congregation. But its most recent annual report recorded a loss of $139,490, mainly due to loss of parking revenue. The report also noted an expensive liability arising in relation to Gotch Lane at the rear of the church.
Bordering the CBD, East Melbourne is home to many religious organisations. Last year the Catholic archdiocese sold some of its large land holdings. The Grollo Group paid $10.54 million for 384-388 Albert Street, a mansion that formerly housed the Bionics Institute.
take a gamble
The old Apostolic Church at 231-233 Punt Road, opposite the Melbourne Cricket Ground, also has quite a bit of history. In the latest episode, the mortgage brings the high-profile office to market.
Engineering group Bonacci (now Meinhardt Bonacci) converted it into an office in the late 20th century before selling it for $1.9 million in 2006.
Records show it was purchased 15 years later by David Brandi, who was sentenced to two years in prison for defrauding the Australian Taxation Office. Records show it’s now owned by Tina Brandi. It could bring in around $4.5 million.
Brandi invested in sports clubs and competitions and later purchased four. To obstruct He purchased the properties for a total of $7.25 million and made a profit of $1.14 million.
Newpoint Advisory retains control of the company that owns the 850 square meter, two-storey building. It is on a land of 713 m2, where more than 59,000 cars pass daily. Records show Sydney financier Pallas has a mortgage on the property.
The sales campaign is being led by CBRE representatives Nathan Mufale, Scott Hawthorne and Alex Brierley. This isn’t the only property on the books owned by Brandi but under Newpoint’s control.
All three stores on Prahran’s popular Greville Street are on the market. The first of these is a two-storey, 118 m2 empty shop and residence at number 119. The others at numbers 121-123 have an area of 300 m2 and consist of a restaurant and cafeteria. They are also empty.
Late last year, another building owned by Brandi at 677 Victoria Street in Abbotsford, where Brandi & Co’s accounting and financial services continue to operate, sold for $2.8 million. Even though Brandi is no longer involved, her name lives on.
Pace will pay $40 million
Property developer Pace is understood to have paid around $40 million for Windsor Hall, the former Presentation College in Windsor.
Pace, which has more than 100 housing projects, will develop phased housing on 1.89 hectares of land at 187 Dandenong Road.
It’s the second major development buyout in two weeks, with housing developers excited by the Allan government’s plans for a new activity centre.
And it’s a good buy for Pace. The Presentation Brothers, who have owned the site for more than 150 years, were initially looking for a $50 million windfall to fuel its mission.
Pace boss Shane Wilkinson said Pace had recorded strong sales at its developments in Flemington and Fitzroy.
Colliers’ Jozef Dickinson, John Marasco and Philip Heberling negotiated the sale, with Neil Matthews acting as transaction manager.
The campaign attracted significant interest from a wide range of potential buyers, including housing developers, private schools and aged care developers.
Interest in St Kilda developments is at its peak, according to listing websites, but this may be due to revalued price points.
At the smaller end of the market is 1,168sq m of razed land at 12-14 Duke Street, below the Sisters’ former school.
Records show the Fried and Gyopar families placed a pricey bet on the property in 2018, paying $9.08 million.
It is sold with a license for 18 flats, but despite this value-added element, its current value is probably around $4 million. Ah.
Andrew Milligan, Lucas Duffy and Chao Zhang of Stonebridge Property Group are selling the land under the direction of Mark Wizel’s Advice Transaction.
family philanthropy
Family charity Berry Street’s new headquarters in Preston is up for sale with a price tag of more than $24 million.
The three-storey building at 266 Raglan Street is tucked into the fast-growing slice between the High Street and Plenty Road, which is dominated by high-rise residential projects.
The first two floors are leased to Berry Street, while the top floor belongs to co-working group IWG.
The 3155 m2 building generates approximately $2 million annually and will be completed in 2024. Records show the land changed hands in 2017 for $5.02 million and is now owned by Frater Group.
Coming with a 5.5-star Nabers Energy Rating, it features a 99kW solar power system, 10 EV charging stations, end-of-trip facilities and bike storage.
Gorman Commercial agents Peter Bremner and Jonathon McCormack and Cushman & Wakefield’s Oliver Hay, Daniel Wolman and Leon Ma are selling the rare new office in the inner north.
Berry Street moved from a riverside office in Eaglemont in 2024 after its lease expired. The building, at 677 The Boulevard, was purchased by biomedical group AXXIN in 2021 for $16.6 million.
Services Australia
The Bronts family’s Castlerock group is selling a portfolio of Services Australia offices worth about $65 million.
The largest and most valuable of the group is the Brunswick office at 172-186 Moreland Road, which has a nine-year lease and generates $2.09 million in annual rent. It is expected to generate approximately $10 million in revenue.
The portfolio, which includes offices in Boronia, Warragul, Glenorchy in Tasmania and Port Pirie in South Australia, generates a total return of $3.89 million per annum with a relatively short average remaining lease term of 5.6 years.
SA buildings provide essential face-to-face services to Centrelink and Medicare customers. The listing is held by JLL’s Mark Stafford, Piper Dedrick, Simon Quinn and MingXuan Li.
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