Swanston Street record smashed amid CBD retail regeneration:
Another Asia-based food and beverage operator will set up shop in the Melbourne CBD’s northern precinct, taking a high exposure Swanston Street location to capitalise on the local student accommodation and residential development boom.
Fitzroys Associate Alex Shum negotiated the 5 5-year lease for the 50sqm space at 339 Swanston Street at $300,000pa net, achieving a record rate for the precinct of $6,000 per sqm.
The deal represents yet another benchmark achieved by Shum in a northern CBD retail pocket, following the off-market deal at 299 Elizabeth Street to international bubble tea brand Prime’s Hai, at $3,150 per sqm for the 73sqm space.
Shum and Fitzroys colleague Terence Yeh also recently leased the 200sqm double-fronted building at 423-425 Elizabeth Street to dessert house chain Hui Lau Shan from Hong Kong, at a precinct record of $400,000pa net.
Shum said the student accommodation and residential development boom throughout the Melbourne CBD’s north is continuing to drive generational change that is reshaping the retail landscape.
The new Swanston Street tenant will be taking the place of Student Flights, while Hui Lau Shan moved into the long-term home of Spot On Motorcycles.
“The space is in a premium position for pedestrian traffic flow, adjacent to Melbourne Central station and shopping centre, close to the new CBD North Metro underground station and multiple tram routes, opposite the State Library, and just moments from RMIT University and the University of Melbourne,” Shum said.
“This property presented an ideal opportunity to capture the student market, and the enquiry we received demonstrated the ongoing massive demand from food and beverage operators looking to secure a space in the northern part of the CBD.
“This demand, driven by Asia-based hospitality businesses, continues to push rental rates into uncharted territory.”
Shum said the CBD’s north - especially along Swanston and Elizabeth Streets - is becoming increasingly sought after and targeted by Asia-based franchises who are well-known
overseas, as they are familiar to and popular with the large numbers of students living in the surrounding high-rise developments.
Shum said the Chinatown precinct has traditionally been designated as the hotspot for Chinese and other Asia-based operators, but the current in student accommodation and high-rise development has in a sense created a new Chinatown in Melbourne’s CBD.
Fitzroys also recently sold the 125sqm space at 526 Swanston Street to a Singaporean- based investor with a portfolio of successful restaurants in their Home country for their first Australian venture, looking to capitalise on the location within the city’s renowned universities precinct.
Data from the Department of Education shows international tertiary and post-secondary student enrollments in Victoria have jumped by nearly 44% in the past three years to almost 270,000.
According to analysis of Melbourne City Council data, there are nearly 13,700 apartments in the northern CBD area above Bourke Street that are either under construction of have been approved.
Disclosure:Fitzroys Property Wrapis for information only on transactions in the Melbourne property market. Fitzroys provides this information as a public service. We are not purporting that all sales and leases within this report were transacted by Fitzroys. Terms/Privacy © Copyright 2019 Fitzroys.