UEM Sunrise wraps up Melbourne 21-storey office tower purchase

The decision to acquire the 412 St Kilda Road site is part of our strategy to ensure a steady flow of overseas projects. The property is in a different location from the other two core CBD sites we currently own. Being on the city fringe, it promises a different lifestyle, and thus, will appeal to different market segments,

KUALA LUMPUR: Property developer UEM Sunrise Bhd has completed the acquisition of a 21-storey office tower in Melbourne, Australia, for A$58mil (RM161mil).

In a statement issued yesterday, UEM said the 172,223-sq ft building located on the strategic site of St Kilda Road was one of the main routes into Melbourne’s central business district (CBD).

This marked UEM’s third property in Melbourne after its purchase of two CBD sites on LaTrobe Street and Mackenzie Street in October 2013.

UEM said it intended to develop an “ultra luxurious” residential development, potentially with a mix of ground floor retail and serviced apartment components.

The building, which has views of the Royal Botanic Gardens, the Shrine of Remembrance, Albert Park and Port Phillip Bay, is currently occupied by the Victorian Police. They will be vacating after mid-2016.

“The decision to acquire the 412 St Kilda Road site is part of our strategy to ensure a steady flow of overseas projects. The property is in a different location from the other two core CBD sites we currently own. Being on the city fringe, it promises a different lifestyle, and thus, will appeal to different market segments,” said managing director and chief executive officer Anwar Syahrin Abdul Ajib.

He said the acquisition was timely and would strengthen UEM’s momentum of its pipeline of projects in Melbourne.

He said Australia’s strong economic fundamentals and the steady population growth in Melbourne of 1,800 people per week based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics figures in March, translated into a housing demand of almost 900 units per week, and were among the reasons for the company to strengthen its overseas portfolio.

Apart from Melbourne, UEM is also pursuing development opportunities in key cities such as Sydney and London in the United Kingdom. The company has a presence in Vancouver, Canada and continues to retain landbank in Durban, South Africa.

UEM has also been appointed as the project manager (marketing) for M+S Pte Ltd, a company owned by Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd for its Marina One and DUO mixed-used developments in Singapore.