Prominent site for sale

By Chelsea Cucinotta

Neighbouring fringe properties at 127-129 Kavanagh Street and 63-83 Kings Way are currently listed for sale by Savills Australia.

Southbank residents may recognise the corner property by its bright pink façade on Kings Way, situated behind the Boyd Community Hub. This prominent area of Southbank will only continue to grow with impending developments like OSK Property’s $1.5 billion Melbourne Square project and Boyd Park.

The 3000 sqm site has a planning permit approval for a twin tower development comprising 780 apartments and retail space.

The wife of Darwin Port owner Jingxia Liu and Landbridge Group’s founder Ye Cheng currently own the property, which is up for immediate private sale.

“Savills is currently in negotiations to sell the property in the $40 million price range,” said Savills CBD and Metropolitan Sales Director Clinton Baxter.

“Development of this project will provide housing for almost 2,000 people in 794 apartments and bring a significant boost to the local catchment for many Southbank businesses. It will also provide additional amenity to the Kavanagh Street area in two large commercial/retail spaces at ground level.”

While the property is characterised by its façade, it is understood to be integrated into the design of the new development.

According to Heritage Council Victoria, the two-storey brick building was originally constructed in 1888 as the headquarters for Austral Otis Elevator and Engineering Company Limited.

Interestingly, this establishment supplied most of the hydraulic elevators which made high rise development possible in the City of Melbourne for the first time.

It is said to have made a major contribution to making South Melbourne the manufacturing centre of Melbourne by the end of the 19th century, at a time when Victoria was the manufacturing centre of Australia.