Ex-AFL star’s Northcote development site sold at heavy loss

Ex-AFL player Clint Bartram’s Northcote development site has been sold in a mortgagee sale worth more than $3.3 million.

The deal came after the retired Melbourne midfielder said he hoped to “save the property” at 43-47 Simpson St from being sold.

Grey Johnson director Matt Hoath says an “established apartment developer” had snapped up the strip of shops.

The site has a permit that applies until March 2022, allowing 18 apartments and three retail businesses to be built there.

Hoath says he received “multiple offers” before a developer who “specialised in the eastern and southern suburbs” sealed the deal.

Ex-Melbourne player Clint Bartram’s development company previously owned the shops.

The sale price was significantly less than the $4.1 million paid by Bartram last year, in his role as a director of the development group Corner Northcote Pty Ltd.

Bartram planned to transform the site into a sleek four-storey residential complex, previously telling Instagram followers he would “definitely be moving” in.

Earlier this month, Bartram told the Herald Sun he was working with lawyers to take the property off the market and stop the mortgagee sale. He said about $7 million worth of dwellings had already been sold within the proposed luxury development, which was set to feature sleek black cladding and brickwork.

Renders for the site.

Bartram began developing high-density residential projects after knee issues forced him to retire early from the AFL in 2012 with 103 games under his belt.

His company controls another major development project, 1888 Northcote, in which he planned to convert a historic former High St bank into 23 boutique apartments.

The ex-footballer previously told the Herald Sun about 70% of those dwellings had sold and construction was about to start, and that he was working on a number of other projects in the trendy suburb.

Bartram was contacted by the Herald Sun for comment about the mortgagee sale.

This article from The Herald Sun originally appeared as “Clint Bartram: Ex-Demon’s Northcote development site sold by lenders”.