Another school buys city fringe building to occupy
The pair behind the Southern Cross Education Institute has purchased a three storey West Melbourne home/office to repurpose for training.
Azeezur Rahaman – a former City of Melbourne council candidate – and his wife, Zhefei (Faye), spent $2.8 million for 445 King Street, near the south west corner of Dudley.
Developed in the 1990s, it contains 377 square metres; east facing rooms overlook Flagstaff Gardens, as does a balcony.
It will become the fifth campus for the 16 year old vocational school which is headquartered in nearby Boundary Road, North Melbourne.
“The prime inner west location coupled with the need to expand their educational facilities…made this West Melbourne property a perfect match,” NSL Property Group’s Guy Naselli, who brokered the off-market sale, said.
The property is diagonally adjacent to the Witches in Britches restaurant which recently sold for $7.3m to Jinding for an apartment project.
Another school buys in
SCEI teaches in, amongst other things, childcare, disability support, nursing and pathology (story continues below).
The acquisition of 445 King St comes 14 months since a West Melbourne office it occupied on Chetwynd St sold to Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools to extend Simonds Catholic College.
Also in the suburb, in 2020, private secondary school Haileybury outlaid $7.125m for a warehouse-converted-office in Dudley St to expand its nearby multi-storey city campus (383 King St).
Outside of the city fringe, adult school Pax Institute of Education recently snapped up a 9B compliant commercial building to occupy: 363-379 Mount Alexander Rd, Ascot Vale, cost $5.4m.
The Melbourne Indigenous Transition School, meanwhile, in mid-2021 paid $6.49m for a historic home in Church St, Richmond Hill, near a building on The Vaucluse which it rented.
Three years ago, Fitzroy Community School purchased Carlton’s historic former Dan O’Connell Hotel, also with plans to repurpose it for a campus.
Subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page.
