An industrial property in Melbourne’s southeast has been leased by a tenant looking primarily for storage space as competition for hardstand heats up.

The property at 99-103 Ricketts Road in Mount Waverley consists of 6,062sq m of land with 1,210sq m of building area.

It has been leased to a business that supplies building products to construction companies in a deal negotiated by Stuart Gill and Steven Salopek of Knight Frank on behalf of the landlord.

Mr Gill said multiple tenants had been drawn to the property largely due to its outdoor storage capacity, with an expansive concrete hardstand component.

“The tenant was primarily looking for external storage space, with this being their prime consideration for taking on the lease,” he said.

“The storage yard makes up the majority of the property, with low site coverage, but the dual-level building does provide for uses include office or showroom and there is an undercover storage or workshop area with three-phase power.

“The property was leased on a rental equating to around $57 per square metre across the land, which demonstrates the competition for this type of industrial property.

“During the leasing campaign we recorded more than 40 enquiries from tenants looking for hardstandor yard space for storage.”

Knight Frank’s recently-released Australian Horizon 2025 report found hardstand, or Industrial Outdoor Storage (IOS) was experiencing growing demand with many occupiers competing for the property type.

It found demand for outdoor storage has broadened with growing last-mile delivery fleet parking (and EV charging) requirements, recycling and waste management facilities, staging and storage for major construction and infrastructure projects, vehicle and heavy equipment sales/rental and even the increasingly ubiquitous pickle ball courts all competing for similar sites. 

The construction surge of the past two to three years has also absorbed a number of hardstand sites, leading to greater competition for this type of space and a change from casual or handshake agreements to more formal and longer leases to secure tenure by occupiers.

Other features of the Mount Waverley industrial property include dual security gates on the front of the property offering a secure site with two access points, ample car parking and signage opportunities on rear fence providing excellent exposure to the Monash Freeway (M1).

Mr Salopek said the property was in a prime location for industrial users in Melbourne.

“This site is located in one of the most convenient locations in the south eastern industrial market with the Monash Freeway being less than 300 metres away via Blackburn Road and a second entrance via Forster Road approximately 1 kilometre away,” he said.

“In addition to the hardstand component, tenants were attracted to the property due to its access to transport infrastructure.”