On any weekday, High Street Road in Wantirna South carries a cross-section of suburban Melbourne’s daily errands. Parents drop children at childcare, patients arrive at the medical centre, drivers pull into the Ampol, and a retail strip anchored by Anytime Fitness and Foodworks sits opposite. More than 140,000 vehicles pass this stretch each week. It is the kind of address where the school run begins, and where a childcare centre earns its position.

The demographics explain why. Wantirna South is home to 21,684 residents, and families with children make up 49.6 per cent of the suburb’s population. Twelve schools within a 3km radius service more than 7,690 full-time students. Waverley Christian College, with more than 2,200 enrolments, is about 550 metres from the centre, and Knox Gardens Primary School, with more than 450 enrolments, is about 700 metres away. For a childcare operator, that is a catchment built around young families and their schooling.

New housing is adding to it. Bankside, a 68-hectare masterplanned community in neighbouring Rowville, dedicates almost 40 per cent of its site to open space. Ovata, a Development Victoria project in Knoxfield, is delivering about 400 homes. In Wantirna, Stockland has started construction on Oak Place, about 300 townhomes beside the proposed Wantirna Health Precinct.

“It is rare to find so many daily routines converging on one site,’ said Natalie Couper, Senior Director at CBRE. “Families are dropping children at childcare, visiting the medical centre next door, fuelling up at the Ampol and shopping across the road, all on a main road carrying that volume of traffic.’ 

Policy has also moved in families’ favour. From 5 January 2026, the Australian Government’s 3 Day Guarantee entitles all Child Care Subsidy-eligible families to at least 72 hours of subsidised care per fortnight for each child, regardless of activity levels. The Department of Education expects about 66,700 families to benefit in the first full financial year, with more than 100,000 eligible for additional hours. Nationally, CBRE’s March 2026 Early Education research counts about 840,000 places across roughly 9,750 long day care centres, with centre numbers growing about 3 per cent a year over seven years. Childcare remains a local business, decided street by street, and that is where location counts.

“The schools nearby show how established this family catchment is, and new housing across Knox continues to add to it,’ Couper said. “A centre already operating in that setting is not easy to replicate.’

The centre at 1305 High Street Road is leased to G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM), which operates more than 350 centres across Australia with more than 8,000 staff. The single-level centre is licensed for 67 long day care places across four indoor learning rooms catering to children from birth to five years. Its outdoor play area is set on artificial turf under shade sails and covered verandahs. The centre occupies a site of approximately 1,440 square metres with 13 car spaces and adjoins the medical centre and Ampol.

The net lease runs to June 2030, with two five-year options to 2040 available to the tenant. Rent increases by a fixed 4 per cent each year, with a market review at the start of each further option period, and the tenant pays all outgoings. Net income is approximately $207,826 a year plus GST, or $3,101 per place.

“G8 Education is the largest ASX-listed childcare operator, the tenant covers outgoings and the rent steps up by a fixed 4 per cent every year,’ Couper said. “The current rent of $3,101 per place also sits below the rents at comparable Victorian centres, with a market review at the start of each option period.’

Details of the G8 Education childcare investment at 1305 High Street Road, Wantirna South, including the lease and title documents, are available through listing link below. Alternatively, reach out to the exclusive selling agents for more information.

1305 High Street Road, Wantirna South VIC 3152