Air rights for sale with apartment

PHOTO: Agent Rhiannon East is selling fresh air. Picture: Rebecca Michael

Two storeys of thin air stack more than $100,000 onto the value of this city apartment.

The two-bedroom pad for sale in the The Wiltshire building at 37/300 King St comes with “air rights” above it that allow for its owner to extend above the roof.

Harcourts Melbourne City agent Rhiannon East said the invisible asset made up “at least $100,000-$200,000” of the apartment’s $630,000-$680,000 price tag.

“The owners of the 10 apartments on the top floor — level three — of The Wiltshire own the air space directly above their apartments, matching the apartment’s footprint,” she said.

“This essentially allows them to build into those air rights without body corporate approval.”

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The Wiltshire building is a former parcels office.

The open-plan apartment inside 37/300.

Ms East said owners would need council approval to build upwards, though, as was necessary “with any renovation”, but believed the rights allowed for at least two storeys.

“My understanding is the original developer actually was planning to build a 4-5 storey building and didn’t end up doing that so he sold the air rights with the apartments,” she said.

Air rights most commonly concern the space above a building, which can be developed or sold by whoever owns them, and can be purchased by adjoining buildings and be common property or privately owned.

But any application to build within them is subject to planning and building approvals.

Ms East has only ever encountered the concept at The Wiltshire, a former parcels office, and listed another there in 2017, which that vendor ended up retaining.

She said one owner had plans before City of Melbourne including a rooftop garden, but nothing had been developed above the building yet.