Colliers Melbourne City Sales team are proud to offer for sale “Donkey Wheel House”, 669 – 675 Bourke Street, Melbourne. The stunning gothic style building was constructed 1891 as the former headquarters of the Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company (MTOC) designed by architectural firm Twentyman & Askew (known for designing The Royal and Block Arcades). This architecturally iconic building comprises four levels plus basement and has a total net lettable area of 2,990sqm (approx).
The property is offered by International Expressions of Interest closing Tuesday 8th November at 12pm (AEDT). Selling agents Daniel Wolman, Matt Stagg, Oliver Hay and Leon Ma anticipate a sale price of more than $25 million.
The vendor is One Fund Management Limited (as trustee for Ethical Property Commercial Fund).
The Ethical Property Commercial Fund is a unit trust established in 2015 by Melbourne based charity Donkey Wheel Trust and UK social enterprise The Ethical Property Company. The fund provided a vehicle for wholesale investors wishing to participate in Ethical Property’s continued growth in Australia, with a mission to become the workspace provider of choice for social change organisations.
Donkey Wheel Trust CEO Paul Steele said, “When Donkey Wheel Trust purchased the property in 2008, they did so with a vision to create a “communiversity” – a place to enable people to come together to develop new ideas to shape a better society. This has been achieved by co-locating social and environmental impact organisations in the building, providing them with access to people, skills, services, and opportunities that help them achieve more.”
Donkey Wheel Trust (Hence currently named “Donkey Wheel House”) and Ethical Property Australia have headquarters within 673 Bourke Street and lease the balance to a network of like-minded social enterprise and non-profit organisations such as Salvos Stores (The Salvation Army), The Big Issue Australia, SPELD Victoria, Waverley Industries and Climate Council of Australia.
Adam Trevaskus, CEO of Ethical Property added “Donkey Wheel House was originally the home to innovation for Melbourne’s trams and now for Melbourne’s social change makers.”
Selling agent Daniel Wolman said “673 Bourke Street is one of the finest examples of a classic style building in the Melbourne CBD and has been painstakingly refurbished by the vendor to accommodate the needs of modern day commercial, retail and hospitality tenants. The vendor has also succeeded to enhance the environmental performance of the asset, increasing the NABERS rating from 2 to 4.5 stars, which is very high for a building of this vintage.”
Matt Stagg added, “The asset is ideally suited to high net worth private investors, family offices and philanthropic foundations seeking an iconic Melbourne CBD commercial real estate investment that also benefits from strong architectural, environmental and social enterprise attributes. Commercial owner-occupiers may also consider the property as a prominnat Melbourne CBD headquarters with naming rights potentially available as part of the sale.”
“673 Bourke Street is located close to the intersection of Spencer Street and Southern Cross Station. This is one of the fastest developing precincts within the Melbourne CBD and home to major commercial, residential and hotel developments. Therefore, the property is well positioned for future rental and capital growth.”
Further information regarding Donkey Wheel House and Ethical Property Australia is available on their respective websites.
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