Colliers' Stephen Ryan and Charlie Woodley have, in conjunction with CBRE, successfully leased a rare transport site with low coverage in West Footscray on behalf of Greystar Australia, achieving a strong annual rental in excess of $1,500,000.

Greystar, well known for its build-to-rent development and management expertise, expanded its local and international platform in the last two years with the addition of a dedicated strategy focusing on industrial and logistics investments. The acquisition of the West Footscray property was its 5th investment on Australia's eastern seaboard and a project complementing its other acquisitions in Sydney and Brisbane.

The deal comprised a 2.1-hectare corner site on 36-38 Roberts Street, West Footscray, including a 7,821 sqm building, which accounts for 38% of the total site area, has been secured by Paddock to Port on a five-year lease with options until 2033.

Colliers' Associate Director, Stephen Ryan, said, "The rare low coverage offering was particularly interesting to a business in the transport and logistics sector."

"We identified prospective occupiers who saw value in the inner west location with proximity to the Port of Melbourne and were able to achieve a rental uplift of over 40% on the existing areas compared to the previous lease that was in place at the time of Greystar's acquisition."

"The transport and logistics sector has remained very competitive in Melbourne's west, which continues to drive up rents on sites suited to this particular business type, as few properties offer low site coverage," Mr Ryan added.

Located in the tightly held inner western industrial precinct of West Footscray, the warehouse is strategically positioned on the thoroughfare connecting Sunshine Road and Geelong Road, with easy access to all key destinations, including the Port of Melbourne, Melbourne CBD and Melbourne International Airport.

Charlie Woodley, Colliers' Associate Director, continued, "While leasing demands have subdued, we were confident that we would achieve a fantastic outcome for Greystar due to key fundamentals such as the property's prime infill location and the ongoing supply constraints, which has resulted in a vacancy rate being sub 0.9% accounting for a total of six buildings across the entire Melbourne West Industrial market, with even fewer 'low-site coverage' opportunities."