Southbank BMW building drives away with record price

BMW’s landmark Southbank site has sold for more than $100 million in the biggest central Melbourne property deal of the year.

Developer Beulah International has forked out $101,008,888 for the prominent 6191sqm corner property at 58 Southbank Blvd.

Beulah International principal Jiaheng Chen said the developer’s vision for the site was “a groundbreaking concept not seen before in Australia.”

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“What attracted us to the BMW site was simple. It provides an opportunity to create a landmark development that will potentially comprise of retail, hotel, residential, commercial and public space that is of a world class standard,” he said.

BMW Australia chief executive Marc-Henrich Werner says the luxury car manufacturer is excited to showcase its latest technologies at the ongoing showroom.

An artist’s impression of the potential development at the BMW dealership site in Southbank.

CBRE national director Mark Wizel said BMW had “placed a high degree of emphasis on who they would be partnering with on the future development” of its home of more than 20 years.

“While many different buyers had more straightforward visions for the site, we have chosen Beulah due to their proven capabilities and commitment to innovation and exemplary design, values which closely align with that of BMW,” he says.

More than 20 offers were received for the site, for which architecture juggernauts Fender Katsalidis have designed a plan comprising dual buildings with more than 800 apartments, 600 hotel rooms and 10,000sq m of retail space joined by a sky bridge.

CBRE director Josh Rutman says: “interest was received from a range of developers with existing active projects in Melbourne, in addition to several offers from new market entrants with links to mainland China.”

The sale price was the highest in the CBD for 2017 and follows Malaysian developer SP Setia’s purchase of the 4000sqm old Telstra site in Exhibition St for $101 million.

This article from the Herald Sun was originally published as “Record price for landmark BMW site on Melbourne’s Southbank”.