Charter Hall quietly sells ex-Foxtel HQ
EXCLUSIVE
A prominent suburban Melbourne office – for years until recently, Foxtel’s headquarters – has sold off-market.
Members of the Macau based Ho family are paying a speculated $40 million for 1-21 Dean Street, Moonee Ponds – between Pascoe Vale Road and the Moonee Valley Racecourse.
Charter Hall was the seller – outlaying $28.5m in mid-2007.
Held by the Diversified PFA Fund, the manager unsuccessfully tried to offload it in 2018 and three years ago.
The property was later renovated and majority re-let, including part to the federal government in 2022.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Daniel Wolman, Oliver Hay and Leon Ma with Gross Waddell ICR’s Raff De Luise sealed the sale via an off-market, invite-only, expressions of interest campaign.
Their deal (neither agency worked on the two failed campaigns) comes a year since we reported Sydney based Marshall Investments bought Moonee Ponds’ much pricier ex-ATO office, which is now being refurbished.
1 Dean Street
On 6641 square metres, with a large 67-bay multi-deck car park offering development upside, 1 Dean St contains 7104 sqm, with A-grade rated offices (story continues below).
Moonee Ponds, six kilometres north west of town, is considered a major metropolitan activity centre, serviced by a train, trams and buses – around retail strip Puckle Street (which becomes Dean Street east of Pascoe Vale Rd).
“One Dean St stands out as one of the few large commercial assets in Melbourne’s northern precinct offering sustained cash flow and strong future value add potential,” Mr Wolman said.
“The considerable interest from numerous groups highlights the robust investor appetite for similar assets, indicating a positive trend for future capital deployment in Melbourne,” he added.
“Ultimately, the high net wealth family’s decisive and unconditional purchase underscored their confidence in the asset, which attracted significant attention due to its strategic location and potential for future development,” according to the executive.
Mr De Luise said the deal didn’t include a due diligence period.
“The continuing favourable exchange rates and confidence in land rich assets on the fringes of major cities are driving the deployment of Asian capital into Australia,” he added.
Foxtel relocated to Sydney’s Macquarie Park.
Subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page.
