The 228 Victoria Pde, East Melbourne, to be sold by the Archdiocese is thought to be worth close to $25m.
Melbourne’s Catholic Archdiocese is seeking a $25m East Melbourne property windfall barely seven months after it offloaded more than $24m of terrace houses nearby.
In their latest real estate move, an eight-storey office block named James Goold House that hosts the Archdiocese Catholic Schools head office has hit the market.
The school operations space is being relocated to another building in the St Patrick’s Cathedral Precinct nearby.
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Its listing follows another major real estate play by the church last year, which sales records have revealed came with some unexpected quirks — with at least two properties seemingly sold for figures ending in 666, a number biblically known as the number of the beast.
If sold before September, the church will have offloaded close to $50m in real estate in under a year.
The church confirmed the plan to sell their properties via commercial real estate firms Cushman and Wakefield as well as Charter Keck Cramer with an exact copy of the statement given during last year’s sell off.
402-404 Albert St, East Melbourne, part of an Albert St portfolio sold by the church last year.
“The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne is offering this property for sale as it no longer serves a purpose aligned with the current mission priorities of the Archdiocese,” it read.
“Proceeds from the sale will be directed towards advancing key Archdiocesan initiatives.”
Cushman and Wakefield’s Oliver Hay said the property had immensely broad appeal with prospects to suit healthcare, hotels or office space, while redevelopment could have mixed use opportunities or high-end apartments in its future.
“This is a unique offering,” Mr Hay said.
“East Melbourne presents one of the country’s most tightly held and constrained property markets due to the very limited development land and strong heritage controls resulting in any future supply growth being structurally constrained.
“Very seldom does the opportunity to purchase a building of over 5,000 sqm within the epicentre of Melbourne’s, hospital, university and Fitzroy Garden’s precinct present itself.”
384-388 Albert St, East Melbourne, was also sold off by the Archdiocese in 2025.
He confirmed the property was returning about $2.1m a year in rent, but would not discuss price expectations.
However, industry sources have indicated a building in that location and of that size could fetch in the vicinity of $25m.
Charter Keck Cramer’s Jessica Crossland said the sale would be supported by its proximity to the CBD, medical precincts and educational centres.
Combined, the church made $13.857m from the sales, made all in one line to a local developer who has yet to submit plans for them.
But individual sale prices, attributed by dividing the total value across each property’s constituent component of the sale, came with a few eyebrow raising figures.
406 Albert St, East Melbourne, was among the properties officially sold for $3,716,666 — ending in the number of the beast, according to the Bible’s New Testament.
Sales records show last year’s sales concluded in October with big windfalls for the church.
They included 402 Albert St, which made $3,716,666 — millions more than the $507,500 they paid in 1993.
No. 406 Albert St was listed as sold with the same, $3,716,666 price as No. 402.
It is not clear exactly how the prices were settled upon, but in multi-property acquisitions a single figure must be appointed to each address for tax purposes.
The number 666 features in the Bible’s New Testament under Revelations 13:18 as a reference to the number of the beast, and arguably made famous by its use in the Iron Maiden song The Number of the Beast.
The Iron Maidan CD album cover for The Number of the Beast.
Industry sources indicated it is likely a coincidence.
The Archdiocese reportedly bought No. 406 for just a few thousand pounds in 1949, before the Australian dollar was established — negligible by today’s standards.
A terrace at 404 Albert St earned them $3,930,970, well up from an about half-million dollar price paid in the 1990s.
A neighbouring site at 408 Albert St was not initially listed last year, but added to the deal during negotiations and recorded a $2.97m result in the breakdown.
That address last sold for $610,000 in 1997.
With acquisition costs believed to be under $2m, the Archdiocese appears to have made close to $10m from the sales.
The property sales are all located near the East Melbourne home of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. Picture: David Caird.
However, records show the church took a hit on the sale of a three-property tranche at 384-388 Albert St down the road, with records showing it made $10.45m in September after the Archdiocese bought it for $13,310,001 late in 2020.
The total sales result for the church last year was about $24.307m.
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