Vantage Property Investments has sold the former Leader Newspapers headquarters to Trident Capital Group for $30.25 million. The three-level office at 1 Chapel Street, Blackburn, was purchased by Vantage from News Corp Australia eight years ago for $30.2 million.

The property has a total area of 5813 square meters, part of a 7247 square meter Commercial 1 zoned block that is permit-ready for 168 apartments. It is fully leased to six tenants, including Community Housing and Fire Rescue Victoria, and also features 217 car parks, including a basement parking area.

Vantage spent $4.4 million on capital works, refurbishing the ground floor and converting the building into a multi-tenanted investment. The weighted average lease expiry is 3.4 years, and the building has a NABERS Energy rating of 4.5-star. Vantage also secured planning approval for two apartment buildings with 168 dwellings on the rear portion of the property, with ground-floor retail and basement parking.

Trident will hold the property for the Pinnacle Diversified Property Fund, which called on wholesale investors for $20 million last month. The balance will be funded by a senior debt facility from an Australian bank. Settlement is scheduled for mid-December.

The deal is the latest in a series of office trades between fund managers in the area, with Accord Property selling the neighboring Salvation Army national headquarters to Ascot Capital last year. Meanwhile, mid-last year, Pace Development Group sold a strata component of its Pace of Blackburn apartment-based mixed-use complex, abutting 1 Chapel St. Both Trident and Vantage are Melbourne-based.

Trident was founded in 2017 by Chin He, Haydn Stewart and Jenny Wang, initially as an accounting and advisory business before expanding into property investment. Vantage, established in 1984, is led by chief executive and owner Matt Spring, who joined in 2005 after roles with Teska Carson and CBRE.