Filipinos’ Flinders Street plan: Melbourne’s largest hotel with 766 rooms

Capital Gain

Philippines-based hotel developer Hotel101 has quietly snapped up a Flinders Street development site where it has big plans to build a 766-room hotel, Melbourne’s largest.

If the hotel goes ahead, the number of rooms will dwarf Melbourne’s next largest, Crown Metropol, which has 658 rooms. The Crown Entertainment complex in Southbank has 1600 rooms, but they are spread over three towers.

The developer, a subsidiary of Philippine-listed Double Dragon Corp, is understood to have paid well over the $25 million asking price for 540 Flinders Street.

The double-storey car park, also known as 539-545 Flinders Lane, last changed hands in 2016 for $19.91 million and was bought by Malaysian-based Tune Hotels.

Tune Hotels obtained a permit for a twin-tower project with 457 rooms and 80 serviced apartments. The development involved a 24-storey tower on Flinders Street and a larger 30-floor building on Flinders Lane.

There’s no sign yet of a revised permit application on City of Melbourne’s planning register even though Hotel101 is planning to have the hotel operating by 2029.

The company’s business model involves strata-titling individual rooms to investors, a structure not seen in Australia for some time.

It’s been a big year for Melbourne hotels. Developer Sterling Global has announced plans for a $590 million 42-storey tower on the corner of Spencer and Collins streets, paying pub boss Bruce Mathieson $55 million for the site in 2023.

Last August, Thai hospitality group KS Hotels paid more than $200 million for the Park Hyatt on the city fringe; and on the Peninsula, Cushman & Wakefield is marketing the $150 million Continental Hotel in Sorrento.

Still languishing is the $500 million Shangri La hotel facing the Carlton Gardens. The 500-room hotel has never even been fitted out and a much-mooted 50 per cent transaction, leaked in 2024, never eventuated.

The Flinders Street deal was done by CBRE’s David Minty, Trent Hobart and Nathan Mufale who declined to comment.

Puckle up

An associate of various Chemist Warehouse founders and directors bought half a Chemist Warehouse outlet in Moonee Ponds this week for $3.22 million, reflecting a yield of 4 per cent.

Four prospective buyers participated in the sunny lunchtime auction, in front of about 70 spectators, but National Retail Group’s Michael Spektor won the day.

The Chemist Warehouse outlet at 88-92 Puckle Street is covered by two titles – one of them already owned by associates of the pharmacy behemoth.

Records show the 190 square metre shop at 1/88-92 last changed hands in 1988 for $1.35 million. The adjoining shop, 2/88-92, sold in 2002 for $2 million.

Chemist Warehouse, which listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 2025 in a $30 billion plus merger with Sigma Healthcare, does not own the real estate where its pharmacies trade.

However, syndicates composed of various founders, directors and other associates are frequent buyers of the freehold properties.

Teska Carson agents Stephen Speck and Michael Taylor handled the auction which was conducted by Matthew Feld.

Bustling Puckle Street has a tight 2.4 per cent vacancy rate, according to Fitzroys’ most recent Walk the Strip report.

The next property for sale on the strip is the Dudley Building at 30 Puckle Street. The heritage-listed double-storey building is leased to Farro Pizzeria which pays $108,160 a year in rent.

Farro has spent around $600,000 on the fitout of the 300-square-metre building. The vendor paid $1.7 million for the building in 2017 and spent about $1 million on a renovation.

The Real Estate Business’ Tony Delinaoum has the listing and is expecting between $3.4 and $3.6 million.

Another recent sale, at the rear of Puckle Street, is a vacant 73-square-metre strata shop at 5/38 Hall Street which sold before auction for $603,800.

Stonebridge agents Nic Hage, Rorey James, Ian Lam and Madison Page handled the sale on behalf of KordaMentha.

Block of flats

Six individual owners in Toorak have combined to sell their block of flats to a Chinese developer for $8 million.

The flats at 51 Bruce Street, a few streets north of the Toorak Village shops, are on a 1008-square-metre parcel of land, which reflects a solid $8000 a square metre and potentially around $1.3 million per owner.

Cushman & Wakefield agents George Davies and Leon Ma did the deal.

“What we’re seeing in Toorak is a deep pool of both local and interstate capital chasing opportunities that are extremely limited in supply,” Davies said.

Truck stop

A regional BP Truck Stop in Wodonga, on the NSW border, sold for a bumper $21.27 million in January. It was the biggest servo deal in three years and well-timed, coming before conflict in the Middle East threw a spanner in the fuel sector.

A private investor, with an interest in petrol stations, snapped up the servo, which includes a Hungry Jack’s, at 1730 Murray Valley Highway in Barnawartha North.

The property is on a 2.3-hectare site, about a kilometre from Hume Highway. The BP and Hungry Jack’s have a 6.1-year average lease term and return $1,267,000 a year in rent.

The vendor was Fawkner Property and the deal was done by Stonebridge’s Rorey James, Justin Dowers, Michael Collins and Kevin Tong on a 5.96 per cent yield.

Another servo worth watching is the long-running 7-Eleven at 86 Church Street near Victoria Street, in Richmond.

The 7-Eleven has operated on the site since 1999 and has a lease out to 2029 with a further five-year option.

The servo pays $179,400 rent, which could translate into a price of around $3.5 million based on a 5 per cent yield.

However, that price could be a bargain given the underlying land value in Richmond. The property is on an 807-square-metre parcel which could be redeveloped down the track.

The petrol station goes to auction as part of the CBRE Portfolio Auction (formerly Burgess Rawson) on April 1. CBRE agents David Napoleone and Jamie Perlinger are handling enquiries for the vendor Point Property Group.

Back street

A local owner-occupier has snapped up an office in the backstreets of Cremorne for $10.5 million.

The 1500-square-metre three-storey office at 11 Newton Street faces the Tesla and BYD showrooms at 658 Church Street.

In a sign of the times, records show the vendor bought the office in 2023 for $11.59 million and didn’t quite make their money back.

Colliers agent Alex Browne, who did the deal with Ben Baines and Eddie Foulkes, said the transaction “highlights the ongoing appetite from owner occupiers, who continue to dominate the office market”.

“In 2025, owner occupiers accounted for approximately 25 per cent of all transactions, the largest share by buyer type, and that momentum has carried strongly into this year,” Browne said.

The buyer is understood to be the owner of bed and mattress manufacturer and retailer Ecosa.

The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.