Cadence Property Group has sold an industrial property in West Footscray, Melbourne to a global institutional investor for $23.1 million, more than doubling investors’ money over the term of the private syndicate. 

Located at 36-38 Roberts Street, the property comprised 7,821 sqm of warehousing on a 20,694 sqm site.  

Cadence said the property was attractive given its strong location, increasing inner city demand for industrial property and low site coverage.  

Located only four kilometres west of the Port Melbourne and the Melbourne CBD, the site was ideal for tenants and owner-occupiers wanting access to major roads including the West Gate Freeway, CityLink, Princes Highway and Metropolitan Ring Road.  

Cadence had intended to upgrade and re-lease the property initially, but then decided to market the property for sale due to the strong performance of inner-city locations and the industrial market. 

“We are attracted to well-located properties with a variety of options to enhance returns,” said Tony Mount, Head of Investment Management at Cadence Property Group.   

“We have the internal capability to swiftly adjust our strategy at Cadence in order to achieve a strong result for our investors. This was certainly the case for our Robert Street, West Footscray site.  

“In the current market, it’s crucial to be flexible in these instances. Initially we had planned to improve the site by way of capital upgrade works, however the demand from purchasers looking for inner city asset was significant.”   

Colliers and CBRE were jointly appointed to market the property for sale. 

Colliers’ Jack Kelliher, who managed the campaign with colleagues Charlie Woodley and Hugh Gilbert, along with CBRE’s Bryce Payne, Andrew Bell, and Tom Hayes, said that 36-38 Roberts Street provided the market with an opportunity to capitalise on the clear shift to infill industrial and logistics locations.  

Colliers said east coast infill rents have risen 21.4% compared with 15.1% for outer-ring markets in the year to Sept 2022, due to rising demand caused primarily by the surge in e-commerce, requiring storage and delivery points closer to customers.