Confidential client - Property investors

A group of Chinese investors needed an Australian partner. A competent partner with in-house skills to develop residential projects. A stable company with deep experience in project delivery that they could trust implicitly.

Background

Our client was a group of investors from China with projects in Australia and Shanghai. The group wanted to develop residential projects in Melbourne. However, it had limited local expertise. It had no local development delivery partner.

Our real estate development arm KM Develop sourced a site at 640 Bourke Street and introduced the opportunity to the client, detailing our local expertise to acquire and deliver the project on their behalf. They liked what they saw and we successfully bought the site on their behalf.

Challenge

The site included the heritage‑listed Eliza Tinsley building. The vendor used an expression of interest (EOI) campaign to sell the site which attracted strong interest. The vendor shortlisted three parties, with one EOI bid for more than we believed the site to be worth.

What we did

Our reputation carries weight. The vendors had confidence that we had done thorough due diligence and completion risk would be low, as compared to others that they didn’t know.

Acting as our client’s local development delivery partner, we successfully bought the site for $22 million and:

• appointed and managed consultants
• designed the scheme to increase the density to add value
• are working closely with our architect, town planning advisor, the Melbourne City

Council and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) to achieve town planning approval for what will be one of Melbourne’s landmark mixed use towers.

Result

Because of our expertise and frank advice, our client trusts our work. Implicitly. So much so that they appointed us as their development delivery partner on a further two other apartment sites in Melbourne’s CBD.

Our client has outlaid $47 million over the three sites. However, we have achieved an increase in capital values of circa 80% by buying the sites well and obtaining planning approvals that add value.

The group’s sites have the potential to deliver over 1200 apartments, with an estimated gross value of around $700 million.