The landholding has been pieced together since 1932, consolidating the 3,600sqm site located at 7-11A & 17-19 Carters Avenue. The deal was brokered via an expressions of interest campaign following two years of direct negotiations between the Hagen family and Orchard Piper.

The deal was struck on two-year settlement terms, adding to Orchard Piper’s now expanded $28 million acquisition of a 1,400sqm parcel of land situated at the corner of Toorak and Mathoura Road. That project is slated to see in excess of $150 million worth of luxury apartments, offices and shops revamp the Village as a vibrant and modern-day high street.

The acquisition of the infamous Mercedes Benz location provides Orchard Piper the opportunity to make a significant contribution to the revitalisation of the Village. The combined sites, culminating in ten individual titles acquired over the last three years, takes Orchard Piper’s holdings in the Village to over 5,000sqm with a price tag of $95 million and end values exceeding $550 million across the two projects.

For Orchard Piper Directors Luke McKie and Rick Gronow, their long-standing relationships within Melbourne’s premium markets, combined with their intimate understanding of the land, vendor’s and history make them the natural choice to develop the prestigious strip back to former glory.

“Having a close and trusting relationship with the Hagen family allowed us to shape this deal to suit the vendors, they were interested in a high quality outcome for the site, given their longstanding ownership and history,” says Gronow.

“We have great respect and admiration for the long-standing partnership John Worrell and Karl Hagen shared. The Worrell family began piecing this land together in 1932, following World War I, which eventuated in this un-repeatable parcel on the doorstep of Toorak Village."

Primed as the last remaining site in Toorak Village, earmarked as a Key Development Site under the Stonnington Council’s planning scheme, Orchard Piper is set to submit plans for the site’s reformation as a $400 million mixed-use precinct featuring a ‘super-premium’ residential offering with class leading lifestyle amenities, complemented by high-end retail and commercial suites for boutique family office style owner-occupiers.

“As with our plans for the corner Mathoura and Toorak Road corner, the architectural response to this site should reflect the significance of its location. We’ve been actively involved in the area for over thirteen years, having developed six previous projects within minutes of this site,” says McKie.

“It is now widely acknowledged that Toorak Village is coming into a new era. This combined with our two new sites and Stonnington Council’s recent street art and furniture investment will ensure the Village lifts to new heights."

A rare site with multiple frontages, the blue-chip land received over 14 bids seeing in excess of $700 million of capital looking to invest in the future of Toorak Village, arguably Australia’s most esteemed suburb, according to agents CBRE and Allard Shelton.

“Given the site’s substantial footprint within the very heart of Melbourne’s most prestigious suburb, it marked a truly once in a lifetime opportunity for the variety of significant development outcomes it offered, says Allard Shelton Director, Joseph Walton.

“The sale process was hotly contested, with the expressions of Interest campaign generating in-excess of 200 genuine buyer enquiries and, more importantly, a total of 14 offers from local, interstate and international parties.”

“The sale highlights the attractiveness of Toorak as Melbourne’s most luxurious suburb, with the suburb recording the state’s highest median house price of $5.5 million. This represents a 12 per cent increase in the past twelve months, as the suburb absorbed $1 billion in luxury residential home sales in 2021,” adds CBRE Director, Nathan Mufale.

The deal further complements the under construction Vicland $600 million project now reportedly fully let for an office and retail redevelopment of the long-standing Village Way shopping arcade located at 489-505 Toorak Road.

This latest acquisition made by Orchard Piper takes the developer’s pipeline to more than $1.1 billion of addresses in Melbourne’s most blue-chip locations. Regarded as Melbourne’s leading luxury developer in the residential sector, Orchard Piper’s recent Stonnington project Huntingtower Road was last month awarded the National Winner of the Master Builders Associated for best Medium Density building over five dwellings.

Designs for the revamping of the Mercedes Benz location are set to be unveiled in 2023, with construction to commence the following year in-line with Mercedes’ lease ending. Construction on the Mathoura and Toorak Road corner site is on track to commence early next year.

To request a marketing and sales analysis please contact the selling agents Allard Shelton Director, Joseph Walton and CBRE Director, Nathan Mufale via the below contact details.