Telstra to offload strategic landholding within Melbourne’s commercial Technology, Health, and Innovation Hub

7 November 2022

In a move expected to attract a diverse mix of buyer interest, Telstra has signalled an intention to sell a significant commercial asset in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburb of Clayton. The significant landholding is the largest remaining development site within the Monash National Employment and Innovation Cluster (NEIC), and is directly opposite Monash University and the new $564m Victorian Heart Hospital.

JLL’s Josh Rutman, Jesse Radisich, Noral Wild and MingXuan Li have been appointed exclusively by Telstra to sell 762-766 Blackburn Road via an international expressions of interest campaign. The sale process is being managed by Urbis.

762-766 Blackburn Road is wholly owned by Telstra and will be offered with a leaseback, providing valuable income to the successful purchaser from an ASX Top 20 company.

JLL’s Executive Director of Capital Markets (Victoria), Josh Rutman said, “The sheer scale of the underlying landholding and the flexible zoning will undoubtedly attract a variety of developers across a broad range of sectors, who will see an opportunity to capitalise on the tremendous demand being seen in this world-class education, technology and research precinct”.

The Victorian and Commonwealth governments are providing ongoing investment into the precinct, which is home to 13,000 businesses and medical and research facilities including the CSIRO, BrainPark, Monash Health and the Australian Synchrotron. The brand new $564m Victorian Heart Hospital is positioned directly opposite the site, and Moderna has recently committed to a location in the immediate precinct to establish a $2billion mRNA manufacturing facility.  

JLL’s Director of Development Site Services, Jesse Radisich said, “The Monash Employment and Innovation Cluster is a global centre of innovation and research, attracting billions of dollars of private and public investment. Providing the largest available landholding in this precinct, and in close proximity to the proposed Monash Train Station, the site will be appealing for a wide range of end uses”.

The Suburban Rail Loop, under construction, is planned to connect Monash University to Burwood and Box Hill, allowing a free flow of workers, students and visitors between three major education hubs. The new Monash underground station will have an entrance at the university end and another in the business and industrial precinct, all within close proximity to 762-766 Blackburn Road & 30 Henderson Road.

JLL’s National Director of Alternative Investments, Noral Wild said “The site presents buyers with the opportunity to acquire a substantial holding amongst Melbourne’s largest cohort of skilled workers outside the CBD, within a precinct that contributes around $9.4 billion a year to the Victorian economy. We expect a diverse range of interest given the property’s unrivalled potential to house medical, light industrial, data centre or life sciences facilities”.

International Expressions-Of-Interest for 762-766 Blackburn Road, Clayton close on Wednesday 7 December 2022.