Box Hill South’s former St Leo’s College sells for $61m
EXCLUSIVE
Golden Age Group is paying $61 million for Box Hill South’s former St Leo’s College, abutting Gardiners Creek.
The five hectare site at 15-31 Hay Street was offered by Cor Cordis as mortgagee in possession.
It was previously owner-occupied by international school Canaan which in 2015 unsuccessfully sought a permit for townhouses and an apartment and aged care village containing seven storey buildings.
Colliers International’s Trent Hobart, Hamish Burgess and Jun Lai listed it in October; their campaign targeting builders after a large-scale eastern suburb infill parcel.
The majority of the property is zoned General Residential 5 – the balance, Public Use.
Thirteen offers were received.
“This iconic and unrepeatable…site attracted strong interest from institutional private and offshore developers,” Mr Burgess said. “Premium land holdings that are appropriate for medium density development in Melbourne’s established middle ring suburbs are increasingly scarce and continue to be highly sought after”.
“The sale demonstrates the robust confidence in Melbourne’s suburban housing market,” he added.
“Since restrictions eased, there has been an incredible level of activity, which is combining with record low interest rates to give developers the confidence to acquire new sites moving into 2021”.
Elsewhere in Melbourne recently, Golden Age, directed by Jeff Xu, launched a sales campaign for strata office suites within a 27-level complex at 130 Little Collins St, for years owned by the Uniting Church (story continues below).
Mortagee sells nearby ex-Canaan site for $8.5m
Box Hill South is about 14 kilometres from town.
The neighbouring Box Hill is a major Activity Centre, which given a building boom since 2015, causes it to be considered Melbourne’s second city.
Golden Age is behind one of the biggest upcoming projects – its Sky Village to contain two 18 level towers with apartments, over a lower level retail-podium, at 521 Station St.
The group recently completed Sky One, at #545, rising 36 floors.
Deague Group’s Whitehorse Towers is also this height.
In May Vicinity proposed the suburb’s tallest building – 48 storeys, as part of a $2 billion master-planned development affecting two sites joining Box Hill train station.
Coincidentally near to those addresses this week, Cor Cordis sold another former Canaan controlled parcel – 13 Prospect St – for $8.5m.
The educator paid $8.25m in 2018 and won approval to build a 25-level residential building incorporating the adjoining lot.
Its new owner is expected to propose something of at least this height as a standalone development.
