Opera Australia has joined forces with its City Road neighbour to list a 1704-square-metre, high-rise development opportunity in Southbank on the Melbourne CBD fringe with hopes of netting between $20-$25 million. 
The part-government funded opera company, which performs at the Sydney Opera House and at Melbourne's Arts Centre, is offloading its 35-41 City Road rehearsal studio in partnership with a private Melbourne investor, who is selling 43-47 City Road, an office building leased to Mercy Mission Madinah, and the former home of Fox Footy.
The two owners are hoping to tap into very strong developer appetite for high-rise opportunities in Southbank, where there is a flurry of projects happening, including Australia 108 by Singapore's Aspial Corporation, set to be the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere when completed in 2019.
Other property owners on City Road, the main artery through Southbank, have amalgamated properties to create larger sites that appeal to high-rise developers. In   June, prolific Melbourne developer Central Equity spent $40 million buying a 2100-square- metre site comprising four neighbouring properties stretching from 71 to 87 City Road, later lodging an application for 67-level tower with 782 apartments.
In   July, Webjet director Steven Scheuer and Julie Moss, managing director of Melbourne's Photography Studies College, joined to a low-rise office building at 63-69 City Road to create a 910-square-metre site, hoping to reap between $13 million and $15 million.
The amalgamated Opera Australia site is being marketed by Josh Rutman, Mark Wizel and Lewis Tong of CBRE.
Mr Rutman expected strong interest from local development groups and offshore developers from Singapore, Malaysia and mainland China.
"Despite some hesitancy in years gone by, City Road has established itself as a mainstay for developers, with iconic projects and strong apartment pre-sales giving groups confidence that they can deliver successful outcomes with a low level of risk," Mr Rutman said.