Sterling Global Acquires Key South Yarra Site

Australian Aged Care Group Director John Matthies has sold eight properties to China-backed developer Sterling Global for more than $35 million.

The transaction included 7904-square-metres of holdings with two street frontages, which reportedly took Mr Matthies five years to amalgamate at a reported cost of some $25 million.

One of the key elements in the landholding is the famous 1000 square metre Saint Cloud mansion at 61 Kensington Road.

According to The Age, in 2013 Mr Matthies proposed to replace the site with a low-rise facility only capable of accommodating some 80 residents. Targeted to wealthy buyers, the complex would also have included a 40-seat cinema, golf simulator, wine cellar, hairdresser and several dining rooms capitalising on the unobstructed view the sloping parcel has over the Yarra River, and the CBD, about three kilometres away.

Sterling Global as the new owner has plans to transform its new acquisition into a low-rise project with 60 residences in a garden setting.

The alamgamated site was originally known as 'Alexandra on the Park', which was considered a development opportunity in 2016 with the potential to produce a high-density project. It made for a hotly-contested package due to the flexibility it allowed for basement car parking and numerous mid-rise apartment buildings, perhaps rising five or six storeys.

CBRE's Mark Wizel told The Age that after a range of offers from locals and overseas, Alexandra on the Park sold to a locally based Chinese developer. Within the mix of prospective purchasers, he said, were aged care providers.

This package of land now joins Sterling Global's Australian holdings that include a $700 million, 70-level Jean Nouvel designed mixed-use building at 383 LaTrobe Street. and a former quarry opposite the Huntingdale Golf Course in Oakleigh South, about 17 kilometres from the CBD.