Hewlett Packard to offload pair of Sydney, Melbourne trophy sites
Computing giant Hewlett Packard Enterprise is moving to unlock the value of two of its biggest trophy sites in a move that could see it sell properties worth more than $200 million that will seed major new developments in Sydney and Melbourne.
The prize site is the group’s Rhodes campus in Sydney, which is worth more than $100 million as is and could be worth a multiple of this sum once it is rezoned.
The group is also selling its Forest Hill campus in Melbourne and could reap $80 million-plus as it will appeal to developers that are still seeking sites in the city.
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Real estate agency CBRE is handling the offering with Kelwyn Teo, senior director of CBRE’s Structured Transactions & Advisory Services, saying Hewlett Packard has the opportunity to monetise under-utilised assets to allow it to reinvest back into the business.
At the 3.43ha Sydney site, the company is seeking to partner with a developer to rezone the property and — in the process — realise the forecast uplift in the site’s development potential.
At Melbourne’s Forest Hill, it is pursuing an outright sale of the 5.7ha site, where the zoning already allows for a mixed-use development. However, the group will also seek to take a partial leaseback over the existing office building on the site.
“Tier 1 Australian developers who understand the local planning processes are tipped to pursue the Rhodes property given its wideranging potential — as highlighted by the recent rezoning endorsement for the neighbouring Rhodes East site for higher density mixed use,” Teo says.
The Forest Hill supersite is tipped to draw local and offshore developers, given the property’s location in a suburb that has experienced one of Melbourne’s top house price lifts.
Julian White, state director of CBRE’s Victoria residential sites team, says the property represents one of the largest and most significant landholdings in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
