Asian interest drives Geelong TAC price to $125m
Owners of Geelong’s Transport Accident Commission headquarters are set to earn $30 million on the sale of the landmark building.
The Impact Investment Group bought the 60 Brougham St building for a record $95.8 million in 2014, but now commercial real estate agents Knight Frank believe Asian investors will pay more than $125 million for the secure investment property.
Knight Frank, Melbourne agent Martin O’Sullivan says the long lease to the government tenant is the key driver for the campaign, which is attracting interest from buyers in Asia.
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Almost 11 years remains on the TAC’s secure lease as the anchor tenant at the 5475sq m site with uninterrupted views over Corio Bay and Geelong’s CBD.
The headquarters opened in 2009, winning a commercial architecture award for its designers, McGauran Gianni Soon and ML Design, before developer FKP sold the property for more than $85 million.
Transport Accident Commission headquarters at 60 Brougham St, Geelong has been listed for sale.
The TAC building became a model for other government agencies to relocate to Geelong, including WorkSafe and NDIA, whose headquarters are under construction in Malop St.
“The main interest so far has come out of Asia,” O’Sullivan says.
“There is a whole lot of money searching the globe for these kinds of assets,” he said.
O’Sullivan says the owners were seeking to cash out to move on to other projects.
“It’s a good time to capitalise on a very strong market,” he said.
The TAC building’s owners aren’t the only ones seeking to cash in on the buoyant market, with the office blocks at 235 and 237 Ryrie St also listed for sale.
Channels House and Harrison Place at 235-237 Ryrie St, Geelong.
The buildings — Channels House, which opened as the Capital Centre in 1983, and Harrison Place, built in 2008 — are leased to major tenants including Bendigo Bank, Slater & Gordon, the Victorian Regional Channels Authority and Coulter Roache.
MP Burke Commercial agent Pat Burke says the buildings are expected to sell for more than $35 million in an expressions of interest campaign run in conjunction with Dawkins Occhiuto.
The buildings, which have a $3 million combined annual income, are being sold as a pair, or separately.
Burke says it is an opportune time to sell, as significant government and private spending signals a growing confidence in Geelong, coinciding with record population growth.
“Geelong is currently in the midst of an investment and infrastructure boom with more than $1.3 billion of major construction underway or nearing completion and a further $2.3 billion worth of investment either awaiting construction or in the planning stages,” he says.
This article from the Geelong Advertiser was originally published as “Asian buyers eye Geelong as TAC, Bendigo Bank sites hit the market”.
