The Laminex manufacturing site in Cheltenham has been sold. Supplied: Colliers.
A massive chunk of land in Melbourne’s south east has been snapped up for an eye-watering $53.8m amid expectations of a major residential and commercial redevelopment.
The 5.5ha Cheltenham address that’s almost three times bigger than the MCG has been home to a manufacturing facility, run by decorative surfaces giant Laminex, for more than 70 years.
The property was sold to Forza Capital and it’s anticipated the Melbourne-based fund manager will seek planning permission to repurpose the Bay Rd and Jack Rd land parcel for future residential and commercial use.
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However, these plans have not yet been submitted to planning authorities.
The sprawling block is 450m from the Southland train station and shopping centre, and also close to the yet-to-be-completed Cheltenham Suburban Rail Loop station.
Commercial real estate agency Colliers’ Jozef Dickinson, who had the listing along with colleagues Rob Joyes, Gordon Code, Billy Kanakis and Daniel Telling, said the sales campaign attracted buyers based in Australia, Asia, North America and Europe.
Mr Dickinson said Laminex’s owner, Fletcher Building, had positioned the site “with a leaseback in place, providing a rare opportunity to generate holding income while carefully planning a large-scale redevelopment”.
Laminex’s Cheltenham factory has been operating since 1952. Picture: Colliers.
In 1934, Laminex founder Bob Sykes began creating laminates in a small tin shed in Brighton. The company now has six locations across four Australian states. Picture: Colliers.
He said many potential purchasers were attracted by Laminex’s plans to remain as a tenant for three years.
“So there will be a period of guaranteed income while the property probably transitions from industrial into a higher and better use, but that higher and better use hadn’t been determined,” Mr Dickinson said.
The site is also part of a submission to the Suburban Rail Loop Authority, which outlined hopes for rezoning to allow future residential development on the land.
The SRLA is yet to make any announcement about the submission.
“Because it’s gotten caught up in this Suburban Rail Loop Authority, no one actually knows what the future land uses on the site may look like yet,” he added.
The Laminex site is located at 332–336 Bay Rd and 43 Jack Rd in Cheltenham. Picture: Colliers.
Workers head into the Cheltenham factory. Supplied: Colliers.
About a third of the site is already zoned as residential and the rest is zoned as commercial.
Mr Dickinson estimated that roughly 650 to 700 dwellings could potentially be built across the total site, if planning permission was granted to convert the entire landholding to a residential zone.
He described the $53.8m transaction as one of Melbourne’s biggest development site deals so far in 2026, especially for middle-band suburban locations.
Mr Joyes said there was strong demand for Melbourne sites which aligned with major infrastructure investment and long-term planning frameworks, such as the Suburban Rail Loop “Opportunities of this scale, particularly those with proximity to transport, established amenity and flexible zoning, remain tightly held,” Mr Joyes added.
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