Rare opportunity to acquire an animal hospital asset in Melbourne’s south-east

The opportunity to purchase a brand-new animal hospital, leased to AEC (Animal Emergency Centre), in the Melbourne suburb of Highett is expected to attract broad investor interest.

The property is being marketed by CBRE’s Australian Healthcare and Social Infrastructure team of Sandro Peluso, Marcello Caspani-Muto and Jimmy Tat.

Mr Peluso said the team were expecting interest from a number of their traditional healthcare buyers, in addition to a wide array of first-time investors in the sector.

“Given the rare nature of vet-related investments and associated price point, the opportunity is expected to be highly sought after by high-net-worth private investors and syndicators alike,” Mr Peluso added.

The purpose-built property, located at 252 Wickham Road, is fully leased to AEC which is wholly owned by the Greencross Pet Wellness Company, one of Australia’s largest veterinary providers with 260 clinics and 24 animal hospitals in operation across the country.

The asset has a passing income of $553,350 with fixed 3.5% annual increases and a new 10+5+5 year lease.

The animal hospital has had significant capital investment, undergoing a redevelopment project in partnership with Unified Property Services and Tom Shelton’s Bridport Property. The new purpose-designed facility features multiple day theatres, X-Ray rooms and CT scanning capabilities.

Owner of Unified Property Services Justin Clarkson said, “AEC was such an iconic, established business operating from this location for over 50 years, but the accommodation was substandard. We saw the opportunity to relocate them to a new purpose-built facility, next door, while maintaining their business operations during construction. The state-of-the-art facility they now operate from is the outcome of that vision.”

Mr Peluso said, “Given the tenant profile, price point, and bayside location with surrounding large format retail and industrial amenity along Wickham Road, this property will have wide appeal.

“Investors understand the unique and tightly held nature of veterinary-related investments. Traditional vet clinics are highly popular and scarcely offered to the market. As an example, our team has only sold three or four of these assets in the past five years and each time they have been highly competitive. A fully equipped animal hospital like this property will take the investor interest to another level. Couple this with a notable private equity backed tenant and one of the largest vet providers in the country, this really does deserve the somewhat overused ‘generational’ label,” Mr Peluso added.

The International Expressions of Interest campaign closes on April 8, 2025.