By Nicole Lindsay and Alexandra Laskie
A Chinese developer has paid $11.67 million for a VicRoads site next to the Brimbank Shopping Centre in Albanvale.
Savills agent Julian Heatherich, who negotiated the deal with Jesse Radisich and Nick Peden, said the buyer, a local group with Chinese connections, was likely to build townhouses on the 8.78 hectare site.
“It’s a really well located site. The demand for housing in established centres, particularly next door to a shopping centre with public transport and other amenities in place, is enormous,” Mr Heatherich said. “We had nine tenders submitted, which is a good number of offers.”
Any development at 80a and 80b Oakwood Road in Albanvale will require careful planning, as the site is almost halved to 4.5 hectares once easements and non-developable areas are taken into account. It is zoned general residential.
Infill sites in Brimbank were a “magnet for developers”, Mr Heatherich said.
Savills is also selling two other Department of Treasury properties including the former Deer Park Primary School site in Ballarat Road, which is coming up for sale after Easter.
Mr Heatherich said 25 groups have already registered their interest in the two sites at 814 Ballarat Road and 95 Station Road, Deer Park, which will be sold together.
“There’s significant interest in the area,” he said. “We’re expecting the sale to fetch about $8 million,” he said.
The Deer Park property is one of five former school sites in Brimbank slated for sale.
In February, the Brimbank council wrote to Premier Daniel Andrews, the education and planning ministers, their equivalent opposition members, all local and state MPs and the Department of Education’s south-west regional director for education calling for a halt to the sale of former Keilor Park, Calder Rise and Deer Park primary schools, Kealba secondary college and undeveloped school land in Taylors Lakes, which was previously earmarked for a P-12 school.
The Department of Education and Training has deemed the land surplus to its requirements.
Last month local developer Hexa Group paid a speculated price of more than $11 million for a 1.9-hectare site next to Keilor Central Shopping Centre. The Copernicus Way property is zoned commercial zone 1 and has approved plans for 99 townhouses.
