Briefs

Whole floor subleased

FITZROYS agents Rob Harrington and Tom Backay have subleased a whole floor of 763 sq m at 478 Albert Street, East Melbourne, to Superpartners, Australia's largest superannuation administrator. The seven-level building totals about 4500 sq m and is close to Parliament Station and overlooks Parliament Gardens. The level-two modern office space with a full fit-out generated rent of $393 per sq m gross per annum plus GST. Mr Harrington said there had been interest from three parties seeking furnished office space. "The supply of similar quality space at the east end of the CBD is at a historical low," he said, placing further upward pressure on rental levels.

EPPING

PETstock trots off

AUSTRALIAN pet and livestock supplies retailer PETstock has committed to a 655 sq m bulky goods showroom in Epping. As part of its expansion, PETstock has moved to 2/88 Cooper Street from a smaller retail outlet in South Morang. CBRE's Scott Littler negotiated the deal at about $117,000 net on behalf of a subsidiary of the McMullin Property Group. PETstock has committed to a three-year lease with a four-year option. Mr Littler said the Baillieu government's recent changes to Victorian retail planning laws had lifted restrictions on bulky goods retailers that required premises less than 1000 sq m to trade in restricted retail sites. "The flexibility now being permitted in some industrial zones has opened up a number of new leasing opportunities for similar large-format retailers such as PETstock," he said.

OAKLEIGH EAST

Shopfront office sold

MELBOURNE Body Corporate Management (MBCM) has bought a shopfront office building at 200 Huntingdale Road in Oakleigh East on the corner with Dandenong Road for $645,000. The private sale covers a building with an office area of 190 sq m on a land area of 258 sq m with a Business 1 zoning. The private sale negotiated by Crabtrees Real Estate agent Alex Ivory includes airconditioned office space that also has data cabling in place. The building was sold on a vacant possession basis. MBCM has been managing strata-titled commercial and residential properties in Victoria for more than 25 years.

ST KILDA ROAD

Leases locked in

LEMON Baxter's manager commercial sales and leasing, Jay Pavey, has negotiated two leases at 607 St Kilda Road, the Centuria Property Funds building that is for sale. Alfred Health will occupy the remaining three floors totalling 2407 sq m for an initial period of nine years at a starting net rent of $260 per sq m. French multinational Sodexo, which moved from Hawthorn in December 2010, signed a seven-year deal across 1288 sq m at a net rent of $240 per sq m. These follow recent renewals within the building by Celgene, Six Degrees, Software AG and BDA Marketing. There are only three buildings in St Kilda Road 324, 636 and 390 with large floor space for rent. Lowe Lippmann, Australian Grand Prix and Jacobs recently entered contracts for a total of 5000 sq m at 616 St Kilda Road negotiated by Chris Curtain of Lemon Baxter and Simon D'Arcy of Knight Frank.