Burnes’ plot sale of HLO head office

HELLOWORLD Travel Limited CEO Andrew Burnes and his wife, the company’s Executive Director Cinzia Burnes, look set to sell the building which they currently lease to the company to house its South Melbourne headquarters.

Commercial real estate company JLL has been promoting the forthcoming sale of 179-185 Normanby Road South Melbourne, noting that it is a “Freestanding Office Building 100% Leased to an ASX-listed Tenant”.

Also known as Laconia House, the property is described by JLL as “a long awaited opportunity ingrained in the fabric of Melbourne’s city fringe” located in the city’s most exciting development precinct.

The building is currently owned by Normanby Road Holdings Pty Limited (ATF 179 Normanby Road Trust), with the recent Helloworld Travel Limited annual report noting that Andrew and Cinzia Burnes are both directors of the company “which owns and leases to Helloworld Travel, the head office premises for the Group’s operations”.

Andrew and Cinzia Burnes bought the building in 2012, and in 2016 lodged a redevelopment proposal for the site involving a 40-storey tower complex.