Strong demand in StKilda Road

The following article (Nov 9 ,2016 from the Sydney Morning Herald) shows, I believe, that there will be strong demand for one of APW's major properties at 492 Stkilda Road, Melbourne if it goes to market.

Particularily favourable that residential developers will be competing against commercial office occupiers for this property, 10 minutes by tram from the CBD, with the brilliant Fawkner Park on one side and the equally attractive Albert Park Lake on the other.




Retail billionaire Solomon Lew has pounced on a vacant 8-level St Kilda Road office building, paying $55 million to beat off developers on one of Melbourne's premier leafy boulevards.
Mr Lew's Premier Investments purchased 457 St Kilda Road, a commercial tower until recently occupied by majority tenant Serviceworks, a subsidiary of stock transfer company Computershare.


A neat fit: Solomon Lew has made a foray into commercial office ownership. Photo: Michael Clayton Jones
The empty building is expected to be occupied by Mr Lew's Just Group, currently headquartered in Richmond, which until recently had a leasing requirement out in the market for 7000 square metres.
The tower, overlooking Fawkner Gardens, attracted interest from residential developers, said Teska Carson's Michael Taylor, who negotiated the sale with colleague Michael Ludski and CBRE.

Mr Taylor said the sale price reflected very strong demand for St Kilda Road property and an acute awareness of a looming shortage of opportunities in a sought-after residential pocket.
Developers have established a track record of snapping up prime St Kilda Road sites.