The historic estate at 116-156 The Ave, Parkville, is for sale.
The Christian Brothers religious order has listed a sprawling inner Melbourne estate with $25m price hopes.
The 7119sq m site on The Ave, Parkville, is home to two former residences, including a circa-1870s mansion, and the Mt Sion accommodation building which served as an aged care facility for retired brothers.
Described in its online campaign as the largest residential landholding in Parkville available for private acquisition, it is offered with vacant possession.
RELATED: Hotel Sophia returns as buyers eye radical reinvention
Desigual: Spanish fashion giant returns to Melbourne
Historic Williamstown waterfront dining site hits market with $5m auction hopes
Colliers agents Ben Baines, Jozef Dickinson and Philip Heberling have been appointed to market the site on behalf of the Trustees of the Christian Brothers and Christian Brothers Oceania Province.
The Christian Brothers first arrived in Melbourne in 1868 and established Catholic education and child welfare institutions across Victoria.
Sexual abuse committed by the order’s clergymen allegedly occurred at schools, orphanages and institutions in locations such as Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat, from the 1950s to the 1980s.
Earlier this year, the Christian Brothers claimed it was going broke due to the number of abuse claims it faced and proposed selling off 36 properties to distribute the proceeds among different creditors, including survivors of historic sexual abuse, who are owed an estimated $774m.
The Parkville site is close to an education, health and biomedical precinct.
Missionary and founder of the Catholic teaching order of Christian Brothers, Edmund Ignatius Rice, established the religious group in Ireland, during the 1800s.
Mr Baines said the existing buildings, including an office and function centre, could be used as a corporate headquarters, or for an educational campus, healthcare or accommodation.
Since the address was listed last week, buyers including aged care and retirement home operators, developers and education and medical groups have inquired about it.
Mr Baines said high-net worth individuals had also been in touch with plans to potentially use part of the site as a private residence and then look to sell or redevelop the remainder, in the future.
“It has been mostly local purchasers with a couple of interstate queries so far,” he said.
Anyone wanting to redevelop the site would need to work with heritage consultants, as property is part of the broader Ave Precinct identified as historically significant by Melbourne City Council, Mr Baines added.
Two historic residences, named Barbiston and Carclew, make up part of the estate.
The address offers 91m of frontage along the The Ave, 81m along Walker St and 91m on Miles Lane.
Mr Heberling noted finding more a site of more than 7000sq m of residential-zoned Parkville was usually “exceptionally difficult”.
“With Royal Park on its doorstep and immediate proximity to the University of Melbourne and surrounding medical and employment precincts, The Ave, Parkville has the underlying fundamentals to attract serious interest from the residential development market,” Mr Heberling said.
Expressions of interest on November 19.
Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox.
MORE: Pizza Hut flags return of iconic all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants across Australia