By having plans approved for a four-storey, 20-apartment development of the site of the former family home, two brothers were able to capitalise on a 511sqm corner block in this popular North Melbourne location.

The property sold for $3.5 million. Steven Messina, agent for Melbourne Acquisitions, said, "We sold it for $175,000 per unit, and with 20 apartments, I haven't found a sale with a higher rate per unit in North Melbourne yet."

Messina said the site had a lot of appeal. "It's a popular location," he said. "It's close to Errol Street. It's close to the city. It's got some good drawcards and North Melbourne is not oversupplied yet."

Messina said the development also appealed to a number of buyers because of its manageable scale in a cooling market. "It was a good boutique development, with just 20 apartments. The market is getting a bit tougher here and 100 apartments are getting less appealing to sell. So something smaller, with a permit in place was well, was sought after. Having to sell 20 is a bit easier than selling a hundred apartments for delvelopers" he said.

Messina said the vendor had owned the property for a few decades, but no longer live there. 

Messina said that while it's common to see developers get a DA in place and then flick the property for a quick profit, "you don't normally see homeowners doing that."

Melbourne Acquisitions ran a four-week auction campaign, in conjunction with John Morello of Jellis Craig. 

See also:

Get to know Dominic Gibson of Melbourne Acquisitions