Two outer eastern suburbs mobile towers are calling for $6m-$7m
6 Merimbula Rd, Ferny Creek, includes a quaint cottage with a mobile phone tower out the back worth millions.
A Ferny Creek cottage with a phone tower in its backyard is part of a mobile mast portfolio sale calling for $6m-$7m.
With a 50m-high mobile mast part of the property at 6 Merimbula Rd, Ferny Creek, the tenanted stone cottage has dialled into considerable interest from a number of tower operators.
Along with another tower at 257 Whittlesea-Kinglake Rd, Kinglake, the portfolio has been ringing up $390,000 a year in rent.
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With both mobile towers for sale, the package is looking at a serious upgrade from when it last changed hands.
CoreLogic records show the Ferny Creek property sold for $75,000 in 1998, while the Kinglake tower snared $220,000 in 2014.
The three-bedroom cottage at the Merimbula Rd property has been tenanted since 2017, with records showing it was last listed for $460 a week.
Knight Frank’s Thomas Blencowe said combined the properties were expected to sell for $6m-$7m, but there was potential they could sell separately with most of that sum likely attached to the Ferny Creek property including the cottage.
The tower is just a few metres from the rear of the cottage.
“But these don’t sell very often so pricing them is fairly hard,” Mr Blencowe said.
“They are very good income, and the leases tend to be quite long, so they are pretty straight forward little investments.”
Despite the cottage’s cute facade and three-bedroom floorplan, it’s the towers that are the standout in this sale.
They benefit from being about 600m above sea level with nothing obstructing the towers’ line of sight for a significant distance, which has enticed Telstra to lease access to the 3800sq m Kinglake property, while Optus and TPG are connected to the Ferny Creek address.
The Kinglake tower is joined by a handful of sheds.
“And there’s scope to put more antennas on the towers,” Mr Blencowe said.
“It’s an opportunity to jump into an investment that gives you exposure to a changing world and good quality tenants, and infrastructure, at a pretty accessible price point.”
The properties are already getting good reception, with a mix of private investors and “all of the key tower companies” inquiring.
The listing follows several major deals for mobile phone towers this year, including Telstra selling 49 per cent of its mobile towers business for $2.8m in June.
A significant Telstra tower is a short distance from the Ferny Creek mobile mast.
Meanwhile, a Footscray mobile phone tower was sold for $990,000 in April, double its reserve price, despite being on a block of just 43.9sq m.
Expressions of interest are due by December 7.
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