Monash Mixed-Use Site Snapped Up for $50.8m

A surplus council site at Glen Waverley has sold for $50.8 million in what is said to be a record, driven by home price growth in the Melbourne south-eastern suburb.

Glen Carpark Pty Ltd, a company whose sole director is listed in ASIC documents as Melbourne-based property developer Runlong Fang, has bought the site at 281 Springvale Road owned by the City of Monash Council.

The deal set what the agents call a record land rate and “highlights the growing confidence in the re-emergence of the suburban apartment market”. 

Cushman & Wakefield director of development sites Joe Kairouz said the team was engaged exclusively by the City of Monash to sell the site—about 25km from the CBD—as it was surplus to their needs. 

“We ran an international expression-of-interest campaign on the council’s behalf which generated significant interest,” Kairouz told The Urban Developer.

“This was mostly due to the fact it is a suburban property with really good scale and connectivity. 

“It’s on the doorstop of a train station which will benefit from the Suburban Rail Loop East going through Glen Waverley as part of its first stage.”

The Runlong Fang vehicle bought the site through the efforts of the Cushman & Wakefield Asia Capital Services team, led by director Leon Ma, who has been given the remit to engage with new capital sources, developers and entrants to the Australian market. 

▲ The site is being operated as a carpark by the council, which will continue until construction begins on a new project.

Currently zoned for commercial use and used as a carpark, it is a flexible site for the new developer. 

“It will allow a mixed-use outcome, whether it be commercial, retail, build-to-sell, or some component of buil-to-rent,” Kairouz said.

“It’s opportunities like these that have a big part to play in providing solutions. There are these opportunities in Melbourne, but what we’re finding is that the performance and success of those developments comes down to the location of the property. 

“Due to the current environment of construction and financing costs and escalations, sites have to be in areas where developers are confident that there will be escalation in house prices, and Glen Waverley has seen good house price rises and apartment sales.”

▲ The Suburban Railway East is a standalone 26km underground rail line with new underground stations at Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Box Hill.

Victoria has proven a strong market for delivering high volumes of vacant residential land relative to other states, with more than 33,000 settlements last year, according to Pexa, compared with just under 16,000 in New South Wales. 

But it still faces feasibility issues, even if there is more land to build on than elsewhere.

“The difference between Melbourne and Sydney is that we’ve got a lot of land available but whether it’s an apartment development or even to a lesser extent a townhouse development, there are so many opportunities that just don’t work 

“There is no shortage of capital wanting to be allocated and deployed into development, it’s just finding the right project.”