The largest Melbourne CBD office floor of the year sells to owner occupier following competitive on market process

One of the CBD’s largest strata titled office floors close to Queen Victoria Market attracted keen interest from owner-occupiers and investors.

A Melbourne owner-occupier has paid $3.85 million for a whole floor strata office property close to the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne’s Northern CBD, which was concluded by JLL’s Tim Carr and Nick Peden.

The former Communications Workers Union headquarters, which offered 579 square metres on level 9 at 365 Queen Street, sold for $6,650 sqm in a strong result for the market.

The sale marks the first transaction to be concluded within the building in 12 years, and demonstrates the strength of the owner occupier market who remain focused on securing their future headquarters in the Melbourne CBD.

JLL’s Tim Carr said that “the sale 365 Queen Street is a clear signal of the strong fundamentals of the Melbourne CBD market driving the immense appetite to purchase from the wider buyers’ market. It was most interesting to see investors compete strongly with owner occupiers, particularly when you consider that the property was offered with vacant possession”, he said.

Mr Peden said there was no doubt that large strata offices with secure on-site car parking offered a valuable alternative to freehold opportunities that are typically much more challenging to purchase due to higher ongoing costs and outgoings (primarily land tax).

JLL is currently marketing the 385-square-metre whole-floor office on Level 8, 420 Collins Street, Melbourne, which is expected to fetch around $3 million.