It has taken less than a month for 2022 to produce one of the most sought after and highly anticipated opportunities of the year, with the Mitre 10 in Glen Iris hitting the market. The longstanding home of Mitre 10, which has been entrenched in the local community since 1900, sits on a substantial 8,687 sqm sqm parcel of land (over 2 acres), and will be offered as a ‘risk-free’ land bank that will generate an ‘inflation proof’ return for investors, together with minimal exposure to land tax.

Stonebridge Property Group’s Justin Dowers, Julian White and Kevin Tong together with Gross Waddell ICR’s Andrew Waddell, Danny Clark and Andrew Greenway have been appointed to run the public expression of interest campaign. The long term owners of the property are being advised by Mark Wizel of Advise Transact.

“Landholdings of this scale are so rare in inner eastern suburbs of Melbourne, particularly alongside a train station. Whilst there is lease tail to run, the underlying land value based on current development potential will be a major driver of value” – Justin Dowers, Stonebridge Property Group

Mitre 10 has a ‘ground’ lease in place over the asset, renting the land component for just over $1m annually, which will be a major windfall for buyers according to the selling agents.

“Buyers effectively have no capex or maintenance requirements as these are the responsibility of the tenant, and given the lower income being paid due to this ground lease, are likely be able to secure the asset at a significant discount to land value.” – Justin Dowers, Stonebridge Property Group

Mitre 10 group is Australia’s largest independent home improvement and hardware wholesaler to the industry, supporting a local network of over 300 Mitre 10 hardware operators. They are owned by the publicly listed Metcash (ASX: MTS), who achieved sales of over $16 billion in FY21.

“The past 12-24 months has seen a significant shift as investors seek land rich and secure income producing investments in prime inner fringe suburbs to future proof their portfolio. 1-19 Weir Street offers a highly secure income stream together with more than 2 acres on the doorstep of Melbourne’s prestigious suburbs being Toorak, Malvern and Armadale”. – Danny Clark, Gross Waddell ICR

Spokesperson for the family whom owns the property, Peter Nankivell of Thomson Geer Lawyers, said

“It has been a really special property to the family across generations for near on five decades. The family acknowledge that there comes a time in the ownership cycle of all properties where potential divestment needs to be considered. They will be sad to see it go, however the family recognise the rarity and strategic value of such a landholding and should their expectations not be met they will likely retain ownership and continue to collect rent.”

With the Expression of Interest campaign due to close in March, the vendors appear to have chosen the perfect time to offer the asset, with selling agent Danny Clark noting a ‘big flight to quality’ where “values have been readjusted in the post-COVID environment. People are pursuing securely leased assets and ideally with triple net leases as well as with pandemic-proof tenants”.

Founded by Mark Wizel, Advise Transact is a full scale commercial property boutique advisory firm which specialises in providing bespoke advice to commercial property owners with the view of maximising positive outcomes on a range of leasing, management and divestment fronts. For further information please visit www.advisetransact.com.au.