WITH price expectations in excess of $17 million, the first major supermarket offering in the Montague precinct of Fishermans Bend is up for grabs.
Leased by Coles and Liquourland, who will begin trading in the premises from November, the 2,345sqm property at 263 Normanby Road, South Melbourne, is located on the ground floor of the new R.Iconic development.
Chris Kombi, Chris James and Ben Liu from Fitzroys are marketing the property in Australia’s largest urban renewal precinct, via an expressions of interest campaign.
“This is a remarkable chance to invest in both a brand-new blue-chip retail asset and in Australia’s largest urban renewal precinct. This will be the first major supermarket to service the Montague precinct,” said Kombi.
Coles will move into the self-contained property following the completion of all tenancy fit-out works, on a secure 10-year lease plus options.
“Coles undertook a feasibility study of the area and has made the astute decision to get into a prime location of the Montague precinct, within affluent South Melbourne, in a corner site on the cusp of a building boom,” added Kombi.
The property comprises a ground floor area of 1,752sqm and a mezzanine level of 593sqm at the base of R.Iconic’s 32-level residential tower, with Liquorland to trade from 180sqm within the property, which has a dominant 90-metre frontage to Normanby Road and Boundary Street.
“The property is at the epicentre of the Montague precinct’s building boom, with 4,800 dwellings within only 500 metres of the property at various stages of completion, planning and construction,” said Kombi.
The residential tower includes 456 apartments, with the neighbouring 40-level stage 2 of the project at 253 Normanby Road to include a further 471.
“We’re really starting to see the development potential of the Montague precinct come to fruition. We’re also starting to see the flow-on effect to the area’s retail landscape,” said James.
“Coles has found a position at the seat of Australia’s largest urban renewal project. The 480-hectare Fishermans Bend currently has a population of 4,3541, and Melbourne City Council expects this will skyrocket to 80,000 residents and provide employment for 80,000 people by 2050”
Coles has seen a 7% year-on-year increase in group sales revenue across its supermarkets over the first quarter of 2023, with 7.9% growth in gross supermarket retail sales to $8.874 billion.
“The resilience of essential services and daily needs retail have been demonstrated resoundingly over the past three years. The high-inflation environment is expected be short- lived and defensive, income-producing assets purchased now will prove to be very prudent investments,” said Liu.
In March, a Coles-anchored neighbourhood shopping centre, Ormeau Village, on the northern Gold Coast sold for $37 million on a tight passing yield of 5.3%.
The expressions of interest campaign for Coles at 263 Normanby Road is set to close on 15 June 2023.
“Inner-city Coles investment opportunities are extremely rare, let alone with this unrivalled level of trade growth potential,” concluded James.
