An exclusive investment in one of Australia’s most sought-after retail precincts comes to market with St. Collins Lane set to attract major interest due to its scale and prime location with price expectations in excess of $120 million.
St. Collins Lane forms part of the ‘Golden Mile’ retail precinct of Melbourne’s CBD and features an outstanding high-profile laneway retail space, with frontages to Collins Street and Little Collins Street attracting significant foot traffic every day.
The premium asset occupies a strategic CBD site within Melbourne’s core retail precinct and one of the city’s most trafficked retail destinations. The centre will be undergoing a major redevelopment which is due to commence in Q2 of 2023. On completion, the revitalised St Collins Lane will feature a brand-new food hall, fashion precinct and commercial office space.
Lachlan MacGillivray, Colliers Managing Director, Asia Pacific for Retail Capital Markets; Nick Rathgeber and Leigh Melbourne, Cushman and Wakefield, International Director Capital Markets are marketing the project.
“Investors are rarely presented with the opportunity to acquire a 100% interest in prime CBD retail assets within Australian capital cities,” MacGillivray said.
With frontages to Collins Street and Little Collins Street, the asset attracts significant foot traffic every day
“Collins Street attracts customers with a high-spend profile. The competitive leasing environment, high occupancy rates across the Melbourne CBD and strong daily visitation offers investors an exciting canvas for strategic remixing. Following the departure of Debenhams in 2020, successful negotiation achieved through hard work from the vendor over the past 12 months has allowed for maximum flexibility, with the current vacancies offering investors a major opportunity for a significant repositioning of St. Collins Lane.”
Already attracting strong interest and multiple offers due to the nature of the asset, the centre has been brought to market in a period of high demand for premium CBD retail.
With strong enquiry from national and global brands alike, CBD locations remain popular as consumers continue to return to physical stores as the pandemic recovery continues.
Colliers Q3 Snapshot data supports this, showing that footfall and occupancy continue to rebound across the retail sector as a whole, with current occupancy levels for retail assets sitting at 98.53%, up from 98.44% in the period to December 2021.
The centre is ideally situated to benefit from the population growth and economic resurgence occurring within Melbourne, with the city forecast to become the highest populated city in the nation by 2029.
Melbourne is currently Australia’s fastest-growing Capital City and forecast to reach over 6.13 million people by 2032
The Melbourne CBD as a whole is continuing to rebound, with the Victorian State Government declaring the pandemic over on the 12th October 2022. This comes as the government has also scrapped its working-from-home recommendations and mandatory isolation requirements. With the spring and summer months ahead, and the pandemic having subsided, it is expected CBD visitation numbers will rebound as more Victorians will be eager to return to the office, cafés and bars within the Melbourne CBD.
“Melbourne’s resurgence is evident and is expected to become the most populated city in the Country by 2029,” Rathgeber said.
“Currently estimated to contain 5.2 million people, Melbourne accounts for nearly one-quarter of the nation’s GDP. Melbourne is currently Australia’s fastest-growing Capital City and is forecast to reach over 6.13 million people by 2032. St Collins Lane is the exceptional ongoing and forecast population growth and planned investment from both Local and State Governments.”
Both Local and State Governments have pledged significant amounts of infrastructure investment and business initiatives. The State Government will invest more than $28 billion into planned, under construction or near complete infrastructure projects. The City of Melbourne Council has also recently announced plans to invest $837.6 million through the 2023 financial year, the largest ever budget adopted by the city.
A 100% interest in the St Collins Lane property is exclusively being offered for sale via an expressions of interest campaign closing 17th November 2022.
