A consortium of Victoria-based property development groups MAB Corporation Pty Ltd and Folkestone Limited, and listed property trust Macquarie Goodman Group, paid around $40 million for the 12 hectares of industrial land, which surrounds Toyota’s new corporate headquarters in Port Melbourne. The site, described by selling agent Jones Lang LaSalle as the “last major offering in the heart of Port Melbourne”, was Toyota’s car manufacturing location for 40 years before most of its production was shifted to Altona.

Property partner John McGuire led the Clatyon Utz team assisted by Linda Moore. The sale process lasted almost a year from the call for expressions of interest to completion, and culminated in the settlements of four separate parcels of land between 15 March and 14 April this year.

McGuire said the call for expressions of interest created a large response, as “the industrial market in Melbourne doesn’t often throw up such large parcels of land in such close proximity to the city”. However, the consortium’s proposal met Toyota’s requirements for future use of the land, and once it was decided on, the companies launched into negotiations on the contracts for the four parcels.

“Dealing with the public expressions of interest campaign followed by parallel negotiations with the consortium of three sophisticated buyers of four separate parcels of land made the transaction fairly complicated but everyone was pleased with the outcome,” McGuire said.