Melbourne’s Northern Growth Corridor Fuels Commercial Success for MAB
MAB Corporation’s most recent commercial development, Ormond Square at University Hill in Bundoora, has sold out.
It is the 5th standalone office building within the $1 billion development that has been completed and sold out, in the space of 10 years.
Designed with small to medium sized business in mind, Ormond Square offered 3,700 square metres of occupiable area selling for approximately $4,350 per square metre.
Over sixty percent of Ormond’s buyers were owner-occupiers, driven by a combination of low interest rates and the demand for the conveniences of working close to home and modern amenity.
“Given the historically low interest rates, a large number of owner-occupiers were attracted to the office suites at Ormond Square. The unsurpassed amenity of University Hill, great public transport access and strong residential growth within the northern corridor are major draw cards for purchasers”, said project agent Tim Grant, of Knight Frank.
“We’ve bought in a growth corridor, where families and businesses are moving and we believe the office will become more valuable over time,” said Sam Capuana, owner-occupier at Ormond Square.
The development also attracted a significant number of investors, who could see the benefit of the prime location, the amenity available and the opportunity for growth.
“We found that investors were willing to take on vacancy risk to secure the right property, opting to purchase suites and then undertake leasing campaigns. Demand from quality tenants was very strong,” said agent Patrick O’Callaghan of Cushman & Wakefield.
Demand for Ormond Square tapped into rocketing growth within the region. Whittlesea is one of the fastest growing municipalities in Australia with around 8000 new residents per year. The current population is approximately 202,000 and this is expected to grow to over 333,000, by 2036.*
Bringing jobs to the growing suburbs was always the overarching vision MAB had for University Hill.
“Many thought it would be impossible to bring white collar jobs to the northern suburbs – yet 10 years on, we’ve completed our fifth office building, created over 3,000 jobs and established a high quality office park environment similar to Melbourne’s eastern suburbs,” said Andrew White, MAB’s Director of Commercial Projects.
Ormond Square is located at the heart of the commercial precinct in University Hill, MAB’s award-winning, 104 hectare mixed-use community. University Hill is situated 17 km from Melbourne’s CBD, close to transport, local infrastructure and amenity.
*1 Place Profiles Report : https://www.whittlesea.vic.gov.au/about-whittlesea/demographics-and-statistics/research-reports