Private Melbourne developer ID_Land has extended its pipeline of townhouses to over 600 after paying $20 million for a gutted factory in Yarraville in the city's inner west.
The former Morlynn Insulators factory on a 1.42-hectare site at 2 Banool Avenue – just six kilometres from the Melbourne city centre – has the capacity for around 100 homes with an end value of about $1 million each.
ID_Land agreed to purchase the site from the Stambo's Group, a local, family-run food services business, after a deal last year with Singapore-listed restaurant operator ABR Holdings fell through. ABR had contracted to purchase the industrial site, but changed their minds after undertaking due diligence.
The original deal was subject to a planning permit being awarded within 300 days to develop a minimum of 81 dwellings on the site.
ID_Land, which has grown quickly to become a major developer of both greenfield land estates and inner-suburban infill sites and now has a $1.3 billion-pipeline, acquired the Yarraville site without a permit. The sale was brokered by Melburnia Group's Zoe Zhu and Kevin Phuong.
Joint managing director Jeff Garvey said redevelopment sites of this scale, so close to the CBD in established areas like Yarraville, were perfectly suited to the developer's "townhome" strategy.
He added that it also tied into the developer's entry into the housing construction market with the launch of Shape Homes, a joint venture with the former director and founder of Creation Homes, Sean Lefoe.
Shape Homes will offer both traditional home designs and medium density product, servicing the developer's own land and infill holdings – including its new Yarraville site.
Townhouses (or townhomes) are a fast-growing segment of the Melbourne housing market with Stockland among the groups snapping up sites offering medium-density opportunities.
"With projects like our latest acquisition in Yarraville, which has a current median house price of over $1 million, we can design a product that will deliver a superior outcome at an attainable price point for the growing number of residents that are calling the area home," Mr Garvey said.
