Premier Brighton Investment Sells for Sensational $7.15m
Church Street, Brighton has reaffirmed its blue-chip status, with the auction on arguably Australia’s best-performing shopping strip of the home of big 4 bank NAB achieving a sensational $7.15 million sale.

Fitzroys’ Mark Talbot and Tom Fisher sold 35 Church Street on behalf of a local investor.

The sale price reflected a sharp 3.5% yield and land rate of $24,826/sqm. It also came in well above the campaign expectations of $6.7 million-plus, and reflected a price uplift of more than $1.050 million since the property last sold in 2019, also through Fitzroys.

NAB, which has been at the site for 30 years, has renewed its lease over the strong-performing branch with 5+5+5-year lease that brings a strong income of $254,616pa plus outgoings including land tax.

The property is on a substantial site area of 288sqm with a large 8.5m frontage to the prime of the strip.

“This was undoubtedly one of the best Melbourne shopping strip investment opportunities we’ll see for 2023, and the result reflected that,” Talbot said. “The market recognised how rare it is to find a good-sized property with a renewed, secure lease to a major bank in the prime of Melbourne’s best-performing shopping strip.”

Talbot said a local investor was the purchaser, winning out from multiple bidders sourced from Fitzroys’ Asian database. Close to 100 enquiries were received, with most coming from Melbourne and New South Wales.

“The purchaser was attracted to the excellent tenant, the tenant’s payment of land tax and the strong rental growth achieved from the asset. There had been a 19% uplift in rental since the property was last sold 4 years ago, despite COVID resetting the world economy in this time. The benefit of land tax being recoverable from the tenant was a huge attraction to investors, and together with the secure lease-term to an ASX-listed big 4 bank made this investment close to risk-free.”

“We’re still seeing investors put their faith in income-producing bricks-and-mortar assets. Higher interest rates clearly haven’t deterred investors from pursuing high-quality opportunities.”

The property is positioned within the most highly sought-after and tightly-held prime section of Church Street, between Carpenter and St Andrews Streets. Neighbouring tenants include a number of Australia’s leading high-end retailers in Country Road, Mecca, Scanlan Theodore, Seed Heritage, Bed Bath N’ Table, Sportscraft, Husk and Saba while the famous Dendy cinema complex is opposite.

“Melbourne’s shopping strips have demonstrated their resilience over recent years, and none more so than Church Street, Brighton,” Talbot said.

According to Fitzroys’ most recent Walk the Strip report, Church Street, Brighton recorded the lowest vacancy of any of Melbourne’s iconic shopping strips in 2022, at just 0.7%. Its long-term average of 1.68% is well below the Melbourne-wide average of 8.07%.

Fitzroys has been responsible for almost all sales along Church Street since the NAB property last sold in September 2019. Those sales have included the $16.2 million sale of

71-73 Church Street & 36 Carpenter Street, home to Nike, Ecco and Laurent, 51 Church Street, home of Flight Centre, last September for $4.45 million, and 13 Church Street, home to international retailer Oroton, which sold for $6.07 million in 2021 at 2.5%.

Fitzroys last year also sold the trophy investment opportunity at 28 Carpenter Street, just moments from Church Street, for $8.38 million under the hammer, on a very sharp 3.08% yield.

Ultra-Rare Retail Investment Opportunity in the Prime of High-Performing High Street, Armadale
Melbourne’s prime retail strip investment market is set for its next major test in 2023, with the offering of a shop in the heart of high-performing High Street, Armadale.

Fitzroys’ Chris Kombi and Lewis Waddell are marketing 1014 High Street, Armadale on behalf of a private owner, with the auction to be held on Friday, 25 August at 1pm on-site.

Expectations are of $3 million-plus for the 2-storey 140sqm building, which is on 208sqm of land with rear access and on-site parking.

It is located in the absolute prime section of High Street, Armadale near Kooyong Road and between Kooyong Road and Huntingtower Road.

The property is currently leased to Nimble Activewear and offered with a strong holding income, with the lease expiring in 2024.

“This part of High Street has 0% vacancy and there’s a number of local, national and international tenants looking for space in the prime of what has undoubtedly become one of Australia’s best-performing retail strips,” Waddell said.

“Rents have increased notably in the last 18 months, so there is excellent rental upside.”

The roll call of brands in this section of High Street includes Aesop, Dion Lee, Venroy, Mecca, Zimmerman, Rachel Gilbert and Oroton.

Kombi said, “It is ultra-rare to come across an investment opportunity in the absolute prime of one of Australia’s best-performing shopping strips. This part of High Street, Armadale is incredibly tightly held.”

According to Fitzroys’ forthcoming Walk the Strip report, vacancies in High Street, Armadale have tightened further from the improvement to 5.1% recorded in 2022.

Fitzroys has sold a number of properties in the past 18 months in varied parts of the strip, on sharp yields and very high land rates. These include:

• 1082 High Street for $3.235 million, on a 2.16% yield and land rate of $16,338/sqm
• 720 High Street for $1.58 million, on a 3.2% yield and land rate of $11,791/sqm
• 1272 High Street for $1.715 million, on a 4.3% yield
• 1208 High Street for $1.91 million, on a 3.9% yield
• 1147-1151 High Street for $$6.15 million, on a 2.7% yield and land rate of $14,500/sqm