Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs Guest said he and others were concerned the sale was rushed and worried the long-term asset had been undervalued. A week ago, the councillor group received a briefing from a developer about how land prices were depressed around 26 per cent in the CBD, he said.“They’ve picked this up for a song, and I think that will be clear in the value of the land in years to come,” said Guest, who holds a doctorate in finance and is a former fund manager.An artist’s impression of the planned Merivale development at Little Collins Street. Credit: MerivaleLiu, also a Liberal Party member, echoed the concerns of timing and price to The Age.“The property was not sold at the right time and the right price. I believe it’s irresponsible to the ratepayers of City of Melbourne to undersell,” she said.The previous councillor group, which did not include Guest, committed to selling the car park, with community consultation in March 2024 and the vote to proceed to market in May 2024.LoadingLast year, industry sources suggested to The Age that $30,000 per square metre was the going land rate for the top end of the city, valuing the car park at $116.5 million. But Reece said the site had unique “encumbrances”, including a 40-metre discretionary height control and a major electricity substation embedded in the building, which powers the eastern end of the city.Reece said the car park had been identified as “being surplus to council’s needs”, and that the sale was part of an “asset recycling program”.“We are selling one asset so that we can invest in other assets … things like new sports and aquatic centres, which are urgently needed; new sports facilities around Royal Park.”But Guest said the assets were not genuinely being replaced like-for-like in monetary terms, and said debt was forecast to continue climbing for the next two years with no proceeds of the car park sale offsetting it.“I don’t want us to get to a point where we can’t pay for truly essential services because of the whims and wants of a few,” he said.“In my opinion, it is selling a long-term public asset for unfunded short-term projects that shouldn’t have been promised.”Local traders and venue owners have previously raised concern about the loss of the car park, but Reece said there were close to 8000 off-street parking spots within 300 metres of the site, including many where levels were currently roped off and underutilised.“I’m not an anti-car lord mayor. I’m a pro-people lord mayor,” he said.Hemmes has no planning permissions yet for his entertainment precinct, but Reece said the council works with “people with vision”.Merivale chief executive Justin Hemmes.Credit: Steven Siewert“We’ll go through a healthy and robust planning process on this project. But as I said, we’re a city of ‘yes’, and so I’m confident we’ll find a way.”Last year City of Melbourne sold its rubbish services in a $110 million deal. Reece recently abandoned an election promise to sell the council’s share in the Regent Theatre.
