Trident Capital Group buys ex-Leader HQ in Blackburn for $30.25m

Vantage Property Investments has sold its three-level office at 1 Chapel Street, Blackburn, in the City of Whitehorse, to Trident Capital Group for $30.25m, according to a report published 30 October 2026 by realestatesource.com.au. Settlement is scheduled for mid-December.

Why it matters

The price is barely above what Vantage paid for the site itself. Vantage bought the building from News Corp Australia eight years ago for $30.2m, when it was mostly vacant and the former Leader Newspapers tenancy was committed only until 2023. Vantage then spent $4.4m refitting the ground floor to bring in three extra office tenants and a cafe, and marketed the completed building as fully leased to six tenants, among them Community Housing, Fire Rescue Victoria and Lawrence and Hanson, on a weighted average lease term of 3.4 years remaining.

The buyer is also taking on an existing development right. At the rear of the 7,247 sqm Commercial 1 zoned block, Vantage holds a 2025 permit for a pair of towers, one eight levels tall and the other nine, adding up to 168 new homes, with retail at ground level and parking beneath the buildings. The office building itself covers 5,813 sqm, with 217 car parks including a basement level.

Trident Capital Group, founded in 2017 by Chin He, Haydn Stewart and Jenny Wang as an accounting and advisory firm before it moved into property investment, is buying on behalf of the Pinnacle Diversified Property Fund. The fund raised $20m from wholesale investors last month toward the purchase, topped up with a senior debt facility from an Australian bank, and is targeting an 18 per cent annual return with quarterly distributions of 7 to 8 per cent. Vantage has been operating since 1984, with Matt Spring as its chief executive and owner.

The numbers

The sale reflects a passing yield of 9.23 per cent. CBRE’s Trent Hobart represented the vendor alongside Savills’ Nick Peden, Jamus Campbell and Tim Grant. The building carries a NABERS Energy rating of 4.5 stars.

What’s next

Settlement is due in mid-December 2026. The report does not say whether the apartment approval will be pursued under Trident’s ownership. Any building permit on the rear block would be the first sign the 168 apartments are moving. Elsewhere in Melbourne’s east, Balmain is pursuing a 460-home scheme in Doncaster.