Confidence in the re-emerging Melbourne CBD office market continues to grow as an acquisitive developer lands its first city centre asset.
Up Property has acquired the 917sq m corner site at 50 Queen Street, offering 9156sq m of office space across 16 storeys.
Industry sources believe the developer paid north of $40 million for the tower.
Overseas real estate investor ST Real Estate listed the site in February. Cushman and Wakefield’s Daniel Wolman, Oliver Hay and Leon Ma, and Teska Carson’s Ion Teska, Matt Field and Adrian Boutsakis handled the sale.
There were 11 bidders for the site—18 per cent of whom were offshore and 82 per cent onshore. However Up Property successfully made an unconditional offer.
Wolman said, “The sale of 50 Queen Street sets a positive tone for 2025, signalling renewed optimism and sustained demand for quality office assets in the city.
“With 11 bids and two unconditional offers, the depth of buyer interest signals a clear return of investor confidence.
“The asset achieved a passing yield of circa 7 per cent, reinforcing Melbourne’s position as a highly attractive market.”
Up Property projects include Morris Moor at Moorabbin. The developer holds a pipeline worth more than $500 million across Victoria.
It plans to redevelop the asset and has indicated it will share plans in the near future as it continues to acquire further assets.
Up Property managing director Marcus Janke said the developer was “strategically positioned to achieve the best outcomes while holding on to high-value assets”.
“This acquisition is a testament to our belief in the long-term strength of Melbourne’s CBD market.”
As previously reported in other media, ST Real Estate bought the site for $40.7 million in 2014 and attempted to sell it for $80 million in 2022 before listing it for $45-50 million in February.
ST Real Estate also sold 223 Liverpool Street in Sydney to Forza Capital in late 2024 and said it was a good time to exit the market.
The company’s assets in Australia are divided between Melbourne (55 per cent) and Sydney (45 per cent).
