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Formerly occupied by SA Lotteries, the high-profile corporate office building in Marleston received high levels of interest.
The two-level building 10 minutes west of Adelaide’s central business district was purchased by the EDP Hotel Group and retirement village operator, Living Choice Australia, for $5 million. The site’s new owner had to fight off mass interest to secure the property, with an expressions of interest campaign run by Knight Frank’s Jack Dyson and Oliver Totani, resulting in 50 enquiries and seven offers for the property.
Mr Dyson explained interested parties included owner-occupiers and investors, with majority of interest coming from “owner occupiers affected by compulsory acquisitions for the construction of the north-south corridor”.
“However, there was a surprising number of local private investors who participated in the bidding,” he said.
EDP Hotels and Living Choice, who own and operate 18 hotels and three premium retirement villages in South Australia, will consolidate its operation and administration teams from several sites into the 2,084-square-metre site. The office will act as the company’s base as it launches land lease communities in Mt Barker and Murray Bridge.
The property has a net lettable land area of some 1,189 square metres on a 2,084-square-metre block, with 43 metres of frontage to the bustling Richmond Road, with parking space capable of accommodating some 45 vehicles.
Mr Dyson said the property “offers strong fundamentals which are hard to find on the open market in the city fringe”, a factor he believes heavily contributed to the property’s mass interest.
Mr Totani added the property’s two major drawcards were its location close to the city’s booming CBD as well as the quality of its building, which was constructed in 2004.
Filled with all the amenities office occupiers have become accustomed to, including open plan and partitioned offices, a boardroom, meeting rooms, staff amenities, storage areas, and a lift connecting its two levels, he added: “The property is well-designed with a flexible fit-out that allows for the space to be easily split into dual tenancies.”
The sale of the Adelaide property comes at a time when commercial transactions are few and far between. According to the MSCI Real Assets’ Australia Capital Trends report, commercial property sales over Q3 2023 are down 64 per cent on the volume reported in the equivalent period last year.
Key to this diminished activity are three factors: pricing, the economic climate, and a turbulent geopolitical world.
Moreover, last month Knight Frank indicated Adelaide’s commercial sector in 2023 has been dominated by a lack of move-in ready facilities.
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